Getting the New York recreational cannabis market up and running has been (and continues to be) a lengthy, ongoing process, though this week The Empire State made some incremental progress as it simultaneously pushed back against unlicensed operators.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday that Upstate New Yorkers will get their first recreational cannabis store, opening Friday in the college town of Binghamton, according to a news release from the governor’s office. The dispensary, Just Breathe at 75 Court St., is the first of the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses in the Southern Tier.
The release notes that Just Breathe’s opening also advances the state’s Seeding Opportunity Initiative and the state’s goals of equity in cannabis licensing, which prioritizes providing licenses to “justice-involved individuals,” like people with a cannabis conviction or a close relative of someone with one, along with nonprofits that serve these individuals.
“With the opening of new dispensaries like Just Breathe in Binghamton, we continue to expand the nation’s most equitable and inclusive cannabis industry here in New York,” Governor Hochul said. “New York remains committed to supporting independent business dispensary owners, New York farmers who poured their heart into their harvest, and every adult who wants to enjoy legally purchased cannabis in and from the Empire State.”
Just Breathe is owned and operated by a partnership between local entrepreneur Damien Cornwell and Broome County Urban League (BCUL), a nonprofit. Cornwell has already collaborated with BCUL, providing justice-involved individuals with resources, education and pathways to careers over the past 20 years.
Cornwell said that he was “thrilled and honored” to bring legal, safe and locally sourced cannabis products to the community, adding that the economic opportunities provided by Just Breathe will help to build on his decades of work with BCUL and also to uplift underserved communities in the area.
“Just Breathe will offer, for the first time ever here in the Southern Tier, a safe and regulated place to buy cannabis,” Cornwell said.
Unlicensed Dispensaries Abound in Upstate New York and Across the State
As the state celebrates the new store, the slow pace of dispensary openings is still causing turmoil in the state, especially in New York City.
This week, New York City also began taking further action on unlicensed dispensaries and their landlords. City Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced a partnership with local law enforcement and elected officials to aid in combating these unlicensed establishments.
The NYPD filed complaints against four unlicensed establishments, alleging that an officer observed the sale of cannabis products in these establishments to underage customers and seeking to shut them down for the illegal sale of cannabis products and operating without a license.
“Legalizing cannabis was a major step forward for equity and justice — but we’re not going to take two steps back by letting illegal smoke shops take over this emerging market,” Mayor Adams said.
During the Tuesday news conference, Bragg said his office has sent notices to more than 400 smoke shops that illegally sell cannabis, warning them that eviction proceedings could follow if shop owners do not cease operations.
“Marijuana legalization in New York came with rules, and those rules must be respected,” Bragg said. “Instead of respect for the law, we have seen … the proliferation of storefronts across New York City selling unlicensed, unregulated, untaxed cannabis products.”
As a whole, the state has issued 66 licenses of the expected 175. Just two retail shops in New York City have kicked off legal recreational sales, Housing Works and Smacked, and even those two stores just opened in the past two months. The rate of dispensary openings is expected to increase in the coming months.
Bragg also said that the legitimate businesses face “stiff competition” from unlicensed shops, adding that unregulated products present a public safety issue.