On Thursday, New York opened its first legal recreational marijuana dispensary in Manhattan’s center.
Around 100 people queued outside the dispensary in New York City’s East Village, which is administered by the non-profit Housing Works, an organization that works with AIDS patients and the homeless.
Governor Kathy Hochul remarked on the opening of a marijuana shop, “The first legal adult-use cannabis sales mark a historic milestone in New York’s cannabis industry.”
Hochul stated in her speech that she hopes the city would serve as a “national model for the safe, equitable, and inclusive industry we are now building.”
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On November 21, the government issued 36 groups or individuals, including Housing Works, the first license for a legal marijuana shop.
The city of New York intends to award the first 150 licenses to traders who have previously been convicted of selling or having cannabis.
The city’s goal is to repair the decades-long disproportionate and unfair impact of marijuana prohibition, which has harmed African American and Hispanic populations.
The governor stated that any marijuana dispensary tax revenue will be “invested in communities across the state to support public schools, addiction services, mental health services, housing and other community-based programs.”
Addressing the reporters, New York state senator Liz Krueger said that the opening of legal marijuana dispensaries will help “those most impacted by the failed cannabis criminalization policies of the past.”
A real monetary gain
Hard-line Mayor Eric Adams, a former cop, acknowledged that the dispensary offers economic benefits, noting that the “legal cannabis market could be a real boon to New York’s economic recovery… through increased tax revenues”.
In the shop’s jubilant mood, founder of Housing Works Charles King remarked that he was “eager to reinvest the profits to provide essential services to tens of thousands of New Yorkers who need it”.
Mark Levine, the borough president of Manhattan, attended the shop’s launch and purchased cannabis goods, including jelly beans.
Consuming cannabis has been legal in New York for people over the age of 21 for more than a year. According to City Hall, $1.3 billion in sales are expected by 2023, with 19,000 to 24,000 new employment produced during the next three years.
