On Thursday, New York launched the city’s first marijuana dispensary for legal recreational use in the centre of Manhattan. About 100 people waited outside the East Village dispensary in New York City, which is run by the nonprofit Housing Works, an organisation that helps AIDS patients and the homeless.
Governor Kathy Hochul commented on the opening of a marijuana shop by saying, ‘The first legal adult-use cannabis sales signal a historic milestone in New York’s cannabis business’. Hochul stated that she anticipates the city to ‘act as a national example for the safe, egalitarian, and inclusive industry we are currently establishing’.
Ex-felons granted first licenses
On November 21, the government authorities issued licences for 36 organisations or people, including Housing Works, to open legal marijuana shops for the first time. The first 150 permits will be given to businesspeople in New York City who have previously been found guilty of selling or possessing cannabis. The city wants to undo decades of discriminatory marijuana prohibition that have harmed African American and Hispanic populations.
The governor stated that any taxes derived from marijuana shops will ‘be spent in communities around the state to assist public schools, addiction treatment, mental health care, housing and other community-based programmes. The opening of legal marijuana dispensaries will help ‘those most impacted by the failed cannabis criminalization policies of the past’.
A real monetary gain
The former police officer turned mayor Eric Adams concurred that the dispensary offers economic advantages, saying that the ‘legal cannabis industry might be a significant asset to New York’s economic recovery… through greater tax collections’. In the happy environment of the store, Housing Works’ founder Charles King declared that he was ‘excited to reinvest the revenues to give important services to tens of thousands of New Yorkers who need it’.
The inauguration of the shop was attended by Mark Levine, the president of the borough of Manhattan, who also made a purchase of jelly beans and other cannabis-related goods. Since being legalised for people over the age of 21 in New York for more than a year, cannabis use has increased significantly. 1.3 billion dollars should be made in sales by 2023.
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