The state’s long-awaited first cannabis shop in the legal market opened in the East Village in Manhattan on Thursday, Dec. 29. The location will be run by the Housing Works Cannabis group, which aims to assist justice-involved people.
The 4:20 p.m. opening was massive with a huge line out the door, said CEO of Housing Works Charles King. The store received more than 2,000 reservations from people wanting to shop and had to turn away at least 1,000 potential customers, said King.
New York State Office of Cannabis Management Executive Director Chris Alexander made the first weed purchase at the press conference kick-off. He bought watermelon-flavored gummies and a tin of marijuana flowers. Councilmember Carlina Rivera bought gummies as well shortly afterward.
The Housing Works nonprofit is an organization that has been fighting AIDS and homelessness since 1990. The dispensary money will be funneled back into Housing Works to support these causes, feature and elevate products coming from LGBTQ+ and BIPOC cannabis brands around the state, and help formerly incarcerated individuals criminalized over marijuana. King said the group approached the governor’s office about setting up a cannabis shop three years ago, before the law was passed.
“Our nonprofit’s mission remains as urgent as ever,” said Sasha Nutgent, store manager for the Housing Works Cannabis Co. in a statement. “We are eager to take the lead as a social equity model for America’s cannabis industry, specifically with our hiring practices and continued support of individuals and communities disproportionately impacted by the unjust War on Drugs.”
The Associated Press reported that Housing Works is the first of 36 licensed dispensaries to start selling legal cannabis in New York state, including eight nonprofits. There are 139 licenses that have not yet been issued by the state and 900 applicants still waiting. The state farm-to-store initiative promised dispensaries would be owned by “equity-entrepreneurs with a prior cannabis-related criminal offense who also have a background [in] owning and operating a small business” and employ hemp farmers to grow the cannabis. However, so far, justice-involved people have been held up by the state not responding to location requests for brick-and- mortar dispensaries.
“The opening of the first legal dispensary in our state right here in New York City is more than just a promising step for this budding industry—it represents a new chapter for those most harmed by the failed policies of the past,” said Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams said the legal cannabis market can aid in economic recovery, create new jobs, build wealth in historically underserved communities, and increase state and local tax revenue. Small Business Services Commissioner Kevin Kim said the cannabis industry has the potential to support up to 24,000 new jobs and generate over $1.3 billion in annual sales.
Since the state legalized recreational marijuana use in March 2021, an illegal “gray market” of cannabis products has cropped up in shops in the city.
“We have opposed criminalization related to drugs pretty much across the board, whether it’s cannabis or any other drug,” said King. “I certainly don’t want to see unlicensed sellers criminalized or incarcerated for doing that, but I strongly support enforcement that includes collection of unlicensed products and fines.”
King said state lab testing concluded that many gray market cannabis products are adulterated with things like pesticides and there are not enough age restrictions in unlicensed shops. He said the only gripe he has about the cannabis industry launch at the moment is the higher sales taxes and federal income taxes.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.