A state Supreme Court judge in Albany on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction blocking New York’s cannabis regulators from enforcing a stricter interpretation of how dispensaries must measure their distance from schools - a move that, cannabis entrepreneurs had argued, threatened to wipe out their businesses and undermine the state’s equity goals.

The order, signed by Judge Keri Savona, requires the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) to revert to its previous standard of measuring from a school’s entrance, not its property line, when reviewing license renewals and applications through Feb. 15, 2026.

The ruling results from a lawsuit filed by 12 New York City cannabis entrepreneurs on Aug. 16. The group is among 152 dispensaries and license holders statewide affected by the OCM’s Ju

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