NYC Sets Out To Be “Most Equitable And Inclusive Cannabis Industry In The Nation”

This Tuesday, January 24th, 2023, Smacked Village will have the soft opening of the second dispensary to open in NYC! Owner and operator, Roland Connor, is one out of twenty-eight individual licensees, and the first to open their NYC cannabis dispensary. They join forces with the non-profit dispensary Housing Works Cannabis Co. who was the first dispensary to open their doors on December 29, 2022. They are one out of the eight non-profit licensees.

In March of 2022, NYC state officials announced that the first adult-use dispensary licenses would be issued to qualifying individuals, specifically with Cannabis convictions. And that’s just what they did! Processes were set in place to prioritize cannabis license applicants who were impacted the most by the war on drugs. In total the Cannabis Control Board, or CCB, issued 36 Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses to applicants with cannabis-related convictions; 28 to qualifying individuals. and 8 to qualifying non-profit organizations.

In a public statement, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul stated, “This dispensary is the latest example of our efforts to build the most equitable and inclusive cannabis industry in the nation.”, and according to Tremaine Wright, Chair of the CCB, “Dispensaries with ownership like this one exemplify our commitment to building a nation-leading model for establishing an equitable cannabis industry that works to offset the harms caused by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.”

Roland Conner is one of the first trailblazers to set the example for the rest of the NYC cannabis community! According to a statement in the New York Post, “he has a “healthy skepticism and caution” moving forward as one of the first licensees.“

It definitely appears NYC is taking the correct measures to ensure our peoples are being looked out for in this rising cannabis industry, but there are still some who feel the application requirements were designed to exclude them.

Is NYC really doing everything they can to say they have the most equitable and inclusive Cannabis Industry in the nation with their current opportunity initiatives? Where do you guys feel it needs improvement? LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS BELOW.

Smacked Village is set to open at 144 Bleecker Street in Manhattan on Tuesday, January 24 at 10:00 AM.