NEW YORK — The options for where to buy legal recreational marijuana in New York are expanding as a second dispensary opens its doors in Manhattan.
When Roland Conner’s dispensary opens Tuesday morning, he will do so as the first person with a cannabis conviction in the state to legally open a marijuana store. Doors at 144 Bleecker Street are expected to open at 10 a.m.
Smacked, Conner’s shop, opens for a nearly month-long “soft” opening in what used to be an old Greenwich Village drugstore.
New York is prioritizing retail licenses to people with prior marijuana convictions. It is seen as a move to balance the injustices of old laws that often resulted in disproportionate convictions for minority defendants.
The first round of marijuana licenses got the green light for three dozen businesses, leading to the opening of the first legal dispensary last month on Broadway, also in Manhattan.
Roland Conner is opening Smacked with his wife and son, and with the support of the New York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund and the Bronx Cannabis Hub.
“I am very excited to become a part of history as the first person to open a legal cannabis dispensary in New York City. Given my experience with cannabis, I could never have imagined opening a store like this,” Conner said. . in a sentence.
“But this isn’t just about me and my family. This is about everyone who was harmed by the draconian drug laws of the past. New York’s commitment to righting those wrongs through law is inspiring. I am proof of that commitment because I am standing here today,” he added.
The Conner store opening is part of the state’s “Pop-up” program to help stores get a boost of seed money before a permanent opening in the future.
“As with some other seed dispensaries that will be supported by the Fund, this will provide licensees with the opportunity to open on short notice to accelerate sales and begin generating capital for their businesses, after which they will close for final construction. and then reopen for the long term,” the governor’s office said Thursday.
The first legal recreational marijuana dispensary in New York opened on December 28 at the corner of Broadway and Astor Place. It marked a long-awaited launch of a marijuana industry that could become one of the most lucrative in the country.
And there’s more on the way. An opening date has been set for another dispensary, called “Union Square Travel Agency.” It will open in a former Chase Bank near the Union Square subway station.
It is scheduled to have its soft opening on February 13. Of the proceeds, 51 percent will go to the Doe Fund, which provides housing, career training and counseling to underserved individuals living in New York City.
New York legalized the recreational use of marijuana in March 2021.
