New York allowed pot shops to open too close to schools. Now they might have to move

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Yerba Buena, a marijuana dispensary, is seen in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Since New York began licensing recreational marijuana stores about three years ago, the state has been using a simple tactic to ensure pot shops are kept a legally-mandated distance from local schools: Measure from the door of the dispensary to the door of the school.

But officials recently made a startling admission: They’d misread the law and had been measuring incorrectly the whole time. Now, about 100 cannabis shops are in limbo, crossing their fingers for a legislative fix while wondering whether they’ll have to relocate.

The news was like dropping “a grenade in the laps” of business owner