ALBANY – Sales of legal, regulated adult-use cannabis will start on December 29 at a dispensary in Manhattan. It will be operated by Housing Works, the nation’s largest minority-controlled HIV/AIDS service organization.
The non-profit New York City group operates a range of direct and support services for people living with HIV/AIDS, the homeless, formerly incarcerated, and justice involved individuals. It also operates a network of charitable retail storefronts.
“New York is taking the right path in building its legal cannabis industry, with the state’s first dispensaries operated by entrepreneurs and non-profits dedicated to serving their community and prioritizing public health,” said Jen Metzger, the incoming Ulster County executive and a member of the state’s Cannabis Control Board.
“At the same time, we are strengthening the linkages between our urban and rural communities to the benefit of consumers, stocking the shelves of these first dispensaries with sustainable grown, high-quality, sun-grown cannabis that was cultivated on New York’s small and family farms,” she said.
The state is reviewing other applications for cannabis dispensaries across the state, including in the Hudson Valley.
