Last reviewed 26 October 2026 by CannDev

Adult-use and medical. For retail, the law allows 24 adult-use retail licenses alongside hybrid retailer certificates, and applications for those are open now. The Cannabis Control Commission, an independent commission set up under the Rhode Island Cannabis Act of 2022, licenses and regulates both adult-use and medical cannabis.^{2, 1, 11}

License types and caps

Up to 24 adult-use retail licenses, four in each of six geographic zones; in every zone one is reserved for a workers' cooperative and one for a social equity applicant. New cultivation licenses are closed with none available, and there is no license for consumption lounges.^{2, 12, 1}

Application window

Open until 4 p.m. Eastern on 23 November 2026 for adult-use retail licenses. Everything, including final zoning approval, must be in by then; background checks on majority owners are due 4 December 2026. The window opened on 12 September 2025.^{3, 1, 10}

Local opt-out

Yes, for towns that voted no. Cities and towns could put a ban on new adult-use licenses to voters on or before 8 November 2022; where voters said no, no new licenses issue there, and the question can be asked again only with a General Assembly joint resolution. Elsewhere, towns may set time, place and manner rules but may not cap businesses below the state limits or block transport.^{4, 5}

Ownership and social equity, taxes, delivery and testing, upcoming changes and the numbered sources are in the Rhode Island rules panels on this page.