BUFFALO, N.Y. — The New York State Cannabis Control Board has now awarded more than 60 Conditional Adult Use Retail, or CAURD, licenses.

However, an ongoing lawsuit is prohibiting the board from approving applicants in five regions of the state, including Western New York and Brooklyn.

"Those guys are in limbo right now and they're going to be in limbo until this case is resolved, and that's just adding a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress to people that already had a certain level of stress going into this thing," said Jesse Campoamor, Campoamor & Sons LLC CEO and founder.

Despite the state's request to limit an injunction only to the Finger Lakes region, a federal judge has not yet changed his order. With the control board meeting the last Wednesday of every month, the veteran cannabis advocate Campoamor, who is involved with the buildout of new retail stores, said it will be at least a month and probably much longer until a dispensary opens in these areas.

"From when the lease is signed to when these guys can get in on design build, the best case turnaround is a 12-week turnaround," he said.

Currently there are only two legal dispensaries open in the state, both in Manhattan. The second location and first for-profit, Smacked LLC, officially opened Tuesday.

Campoamor said with there being so few stores so far, there are questions about whether there's too much supply.

"Consumers want a product that is fresh and so you have to imagine it's going to be potentially five to six more months probably before we have 150-plus stores up operational and active,” he said. “That's a long time. That's a long time to keep the product stored and fresh.”

However, Batavia-based processor Empire said because there are so few processors so far, there is still plenty of demand. CEO Chris VanDusen said the company is making its first delivery to Smacked next week.

"We kind of like the slow roll here because it really allows us to get our quantities and what our capacities are right now and get our systems all worked out," VanDusen said.

COO Shelly Wolanske said Empire still wants its product local and has been talking to CAURD applicants in Western New York and the Finger Lakes.

"They're to the point we show them our products, they know what they want to order," she said. "They're ready to order. They're so excited to do it and they're all so ready to do it. They just can't yet."

Campoamor said the lawsuit does put prospective retailers in the five regions at a disadvantage, but he believes they will catch up quickly. In the meantime, he believes the state can help itself by lifting a self-imposed cap of 150 licenses and approve any retailer that's qualified.