The legal cannabis industry in New York state, particularly in the Finger Lakes region, is celebrating this week after crossing a major hurdle in court.

Since the legalization of cannabis in New York, Britni and Jayson Tantalo have been working toward opening a cannabis dispensary. They were well on their way until a temporary injunction stalled the process.

“Just like everybody else, we were so excited for the opportunity to have legal, safe cannabis and have a dispensary and bring it to our communities throughout the state, so when this lawsuit had come up and kind of halted everybody, it was devastating," said Britni.

They are two of the four co-founders of the New York CAURD Coalition, an organization offering support to New Yorkers with a marijuana possession conviction applying for retail licenses through the state’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary program.

“We’ve been placed in a situation where we have little to no funds or accessibility to funds. This bill will help us with our operational expenses," said Britni Tantalo.

The couple spent Wednesday in Albany supporting state lawmakers in the passing of a bill to extend cannabis cultivator licenses for one year. The cultivators grew the state’s first legal cannabis plants.

Now there's a settlement and the injunction is lifted. For the first time since November, a weight also lifted.

“It was great at least for the Finger Lakes region. 95% of our members are downstate. We’re breaking upstate now – Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany. So it was great to hear that the entire supply chain can open up now. There are 85 licenses that are still waiting to be awarded and 18 of them are stuck in Finger Lakes," said Jayson Tantalo.

One of them is Flower City Dispensary, owned by the Tantalos.

“I believe that now this has come to some settlement and we’re able to open up, I think that Rochester’s been ready for a long time and I think that even though other areas were able to open up quicker people will be surprised at what we’re going to do here," said Britni Tantalo.

No specific timeline on when the licenses will be issued but the Tantalos believe it will be soon. And they say they’re ready.

“Yeah, we’re excited. Our community deserved legal, safe, regulated cannabis," said Jayson Tantalo.