New York’s first licensed marijuana store opened on Thursday, more than a year after the state legalized the drug and amid delays in establishing a legal market to benefit people previously arrested for marijuana offenses.
The dispensary was opened in New York City’s East Village by Housing Works, a nonprofit organization that fights homelessness and AIDS. The non-profit was among the first 36 groups or individuals to be granted marijuana retail licenses by the state last month.
“We’re prioritizing the harm we’re repairing, even the harm caused by the state’s own policies,” Chris Alexander, the inaugural executive director of the New York State Office of Cannabis Management, told a packed news conference at the store. “It’s no coincidence that the people who go to prison for drug possession and sale are black, Latino or Latina.”
When marijuana is legalized in March 2021, New York lawmakers said it could only be sold by licensed retailers to adults over 21, and the first licenses would be issued to entrepreneurs with prior marijuana-related arrests or convictions. – Hold ahead of corporate retailers in a lucrative market. Retailers can also sell marijuana that is grown and processed by licensed New York growers.
New York initially promised that it would find open storefronts and business loans for the first licenses, and that non-profit groups that work with formerly incarcerated people, such as Housing Works, could qualify for some licenses. But the process took more time than expected.
A gray market has flourished in the interim, with unlicensed retailers illegally selling marijuana out of stores and cleverly branded vans in New York City.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, has said unlicensed retailers will not be tolerated. Alexander, the state marijuana director, said local and state law enforcement are educating gray-market sellers on licensing rules, pursuing cease-and-desist letters and, more recently, seizing merchandise.
Marijuana has been fully legalized by 20 other states, but remains illegal under federal law, which can make it difficult for sellers to access business loans and other banking services.
At Housing Works, some of the smokable flower, which sells for between $20 and $30 for an eighth of an ounce (3.5 grams), and the pre-rolled joints are marijuana grown by Cortland’s Florist Farms in upstate New York.
“This is a game changer for our company,” said Carly Miller-Hornick, co-founder of the farm. “We’ll be able to hire more people.”
New York would impose a 13.5% tax on marijuana sales, with revenue going to schools, public housing, addiction services and mental health services.
Peggy Pliscott, a 50-year-old hair stylist from the East Village, welcomed the dispensary’s arrival Thursday.
“People can make a living,” she said. “People can legally buy what they need. Seems like a win.”