THE SPANNABIS 2023 TRAVEL DIARY

PUFFCO DROPS NEW PROXY DROPLET

Puffco released the Proxy Droplet today adding to its long line of killer accessories. 

This time around, the Puffco team is dropping an accessory to go with their newest device, the Puffco Proxy. 

One of the cool things about the proxy is the number of custom pieces we’ve seen glassblowers all over the world making for it. The stock version is essentially a dry hash piece with a really advanced atomizer. The Proxy’s tech in development was what the 3D chamber was originally based on. 

But the dry rips weren’t for everyone. Puffco took note and developed a water piece attachment for the Proxy not too long after its initial release. The Bub accessory is a hybrid piece you can use with both the Proxy and dry flower, thanks to a bowl you can replace the proxy with. It’s a bit beefy and doesn’t feel as travel-friendly as some of Puffco’s other stuff. 

The Droplet takes us from the more traditional water pipe shape to a more contemporary hash consumption device. It definitely looks like something you would smoke hash out of in 2023. We haven’t had the chance to hit it yet, but we’ve hit a lot of rigs that fancy bottle shapes. They’re rippers.

Puffco described Droplet as, “A premium percolated water filtration piece for the Puffco Proxy. As effective as it is elegant, the Proxy base inserts into the top of the Droplet to deliver cooler, smoother hits with an unforgettable rumble,” the announcement reads. “Droplet’s beautifully hand-blown borosilicate glass displays an ocean blue drop within a clear, gradient-frosted body. Its fluid design flows seamlessly between form and function, fitting comfortably in your hand and on any surface in your home.”

The Droplet does not come with the proxy base unit — you’ll have to grab one of those separately.

It’s easy to have faith in Puffco’s accessories after years of hits. Just look at the hot knife — lots of folks that don’t even rip electronic dabs still use those. That’s the kind of innovation that transcends their own devices. So when they come up with something new for their own hardware, it’s easy to see why people want to get their hands on it. 

The things Puffco has come up with in the past to complement its devices have always been fun. Be it custom colors on the bases or glass, or having Ryan Fitt engineer a crazy recycler, they’ve always felt proper. 

Now that Puffco has gone a bit more on the beefy side in regards to its first Proxy accessories, we’d like to see a water piece a bit more compact for the Proxy — not that the first two aren’t lovely. 

SUN+EARTH CERTIFICATION PROGRAM EXPANDS TO CANADA

As cannabis goes international, so will the standards we use to determine its quality like the Sun+Earth certifications that just recently entered the Canadian market.

Sun+Earth is a nonprofit that was created in 2019. The space has seen many for-profit certification programs get pushed in the wake of not being able to actually call your cannabis organic. Why Not? Schedule I narcotics are not eligible for the  National Organic Program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. States also have started pushing their own organic programs like OCal here in California. 

While many of those other programs have fallen off, Sun+Earth grew to California, Michigan, Oregon and Washington before this new move into British Columbia with Sea Dog Farm. They note the program was founded by those with a shared commitment to regenerative organic agriculture, farmer and farmworker protections, and community engagement. Currently, there are more than 70 Sun+Earth Certified cannabis farms and manufacturers.

“We chose to pursue Sun+Earth certification because we believe it is essential to use both organic and regenerative practices in our stewardship of the land, and while we grow for our community,” said Sea Dog Farm co-owner Katy Connelly. “The Sun+Earth seal will help our customers identify products that were grown using methods that help to sequester carbon and build healthy soil and don’t use fossil fuels or petroleum-based chemical fertilizers,” continued Connelly. “As more consumers become aware of the devastating impact indoor cannabis has on our planet, we hope they will choose ethical and sustainable products.”

The cannabis that has made it through the program is free of any toxic pesticides or chemical fertilizers. They note the standards of the program are more rigorous than what you would find in the USDA program or Canada. But it’s not just about clean weed by any means. The cannabis certified also must be sun-grown and cultivated on farms that strengthen habitats and build living soil. Sun+Earth argues the high bar for their standards encourages positive things like the planting of cannabis alongside food crops, and the strategic use of cover crops, composting, and reduced soil tillage.

While cannabis is legal in Canada for adult use, it is yet to be allowed inclusion in the country’s organic food program. This opened up this move for Sun+Roots. 

“Sun+Earth strives to certify farms wherever cannabis can be grown under the sun, in the earth, and without toxic chemical inputs,” said Sun+Earth Certified director Andrew Black. “Sea Dog Farm is the first Sun+Earth Certified cannabis farm in Canada, but hopefully not the last,” continued Black. “Sun+Earth aims to point the cannabis industry—across borders—in a cleaner, healthier, and more ethical direction, and provide needed support for struggling small-scale farmers in our regenerative organic community.” 

The certification is expected to give Sea Dog Farms an edge, as it’s finally allowed access to retail storefronts to sell its products. Up until last year, permitted cannabis cultivation operations in British Columbia were banned from selling their products directly to retailers. Last summer, the BC Liquor Distribution Branch which regulates the distribution and sale of cannabis for the province started its new Direct Delivery Program, allowing small growers to sell directly to independently licensed retail outlets.

THE ZALYMPIX GOES NATIONAL

Over the last two years, L.A. Weekly has had a front-row seat to the rise of Zalympix. 

For the uninitiated, the Zalympix is the biggest contest in the world when it comes to recreational boutique pot. The few and far between that can actually hold up with the quality of the streets. It’s hosted by Greenwolf, one of L.A.’s most famous places to buy great pot. L.A. Weekly recently took part in the process to whittle down the 109 entries to 27, for this year’s California edition. 

We caught up with Greenwolf’s founders Brian and Adam to get their take on the Zalympix rocket now going national with East Coast and Michigan editions currently taking place. We started our chat by asking the pair what it had been like watching their event grow to three time zones since kicking things off in early 2021. 

“It’s awesome. I mean, it’s really cool. I just feel like down to everyone involved, the cup runneth over with benefits for everyone. And it’s just really cool to see,” Brian told L.A. Weekly. He very much appreciates how taken seriously the Zalympix are in different places. Especially in Michigan, there is a lot of fire out there they hope to highlight through the competition.

“It’s just humbling to talk to some of these, you know, top-tier people in the space and have them say this competition is the pinnacle. This is the one that really stands out amongst the others these days,” Adam added. 

From the outsider’s perspective, it all seemed pretty rapid for sure. Basically, as soon as the first boxes went out in 2021, people were believers. The quality of entries made it easy, as the top-shelf entries in the box mirrored the quality Greenwolf’s shelves has been famous for.

We asked the pair when they knew they were really on to something with the event as a whole. Adam and Brian debated when they first got the vibes about Zalympix possibly taking off the way it has. While the initial gut feelings are debatable, when 4,000 people showed up last year to celebrate, they knew things were looking up for the future.  

This was also the first time they were ever worried. They’re not party guys per se. They wanted to ensure everything checking in that number of people went smoothly. Adam was standing out front himself grabbing VIPs and handing them wristbands. 

That evening saw Zalympix go from 700 people at the inaugural awards show to 4,000. The Zalympix between the two events featured a digital awards show due to a COVID spike in L.A. But the jump in attendance raises the obvious speculation of just how big the event can go? The likely answer is pretty huge. It’s not unreasonable to think 20,000 people will be attending in the not-too-distant future. One lesson from last time is, they plan to have more delivery 

Right now they are looking to lock down where they will host the Zalympix growing footprint for the upcoming awards show. Some of the possibilities they are tossing around right now could see them hosting up to 6,000 people. One thing they’re sure about is, they want to start the party a lot earlier, so vendors have more time before the 10 p.m. curfew on legal sales.

While expectations are high for the next California edition, many in the cannabis community are excited to see Zalympix branching out from California. The two had initially pondered the idea, but when their Michigan partners at Exotic Matter hit them up, it was on. Everyone believes bringing the Zalympix to Michigan will benefit the state’s best cultivators.  

Adam said it’s been great working with their Michigan partners. They’re getting ready to celebrate the winners of Michigan’s second edition on April 14. 

“We know they’ve had a long medical time frame there. When we got there last year, we just were shocked at how amazing the quality of the product was out there,” Adam said. 

We asked the pair how the flower in places like Michigan and the East Coast stacks up with the competition back home in Los Angeles?

“I’d say, there’s a lot of good stuff in a lot of places. A lot of people are doing things out there. Especially in Michigan, they’ve always been,” Brian said. “I think it’s the second closest in terms of like, Cali quality. There are real breeders out there. They’re really doing their thing out there and they have been, so for me, it shows.”

As for the differences between the trio of Zalympix contests now happening around the country, the main thing is scale. Michigan is the smallest of the three — they have to keep things a bit more low-key and were not able to have vending at the event. Nevertheless, the vibes carried the show. Many called it one of the best events Michigan’s legal market has seen, noting it’s one of the few times all of the state’s hitters have been inside the same room. They’re hoping to push the bar further next year and be the first event in Detroit to do compliant sales. 

Detroit has been a trouble spot for Michigan’s cannabis industry, and with things opening up, it looks like the time is ripe to bring things a bit closer to the population center. Back in the day, events occurred well outside of the city. 

“It’s similar to being in an Adelanto or a San Bernardino. You know, they weren’t here,” Adam explained. ”They were quite the drive from like the city, and so we knew our whole goal was, as with the L.A. Zalympix to keep it in LA, in Michigan, do it in Detroit, not be an hour and a half away from town. And then same with New York, we looked at doing other spots, but you know, we just think it’s imperative to be in Manhattan.”

New York is looking dope. It’s a little different for the Greenwolf team not being there, but they’re thrilled with the lineup for the festivities on April 19. A big contingent of California’s best cannabis minds is heading east to NYC for the holiday anyway, so the timing worked out perfectly for the Greenwolf team. They’re expecting somewhere between 2,500-3,000 people for the show. Brian noted they’re going pretty hard for the next couple of weeks.

What’s the difference between the contest entries? It varies. Last year there was so much Runtz in the Michigan Zalympix, it was no Runtz allowed this year. Brian found that interesting. 

“I’d say there is a lot of Z everywhere but also like more on the East Coast you see more candy, gassy stuff. I definitely know OG over there, and some OG over here (in the entries). But you know a lot surprised me. There were a lot of Exotic Genetix entries and I noticed there were some different breeders with different gear,” Brian said about the entries. 

One thing that’s interesting about Zalympix’s expansion is watching its perceived value from place to place. Obviously, it’s huge here in California. But it seems like a lot of the time it’s reaffirmed many people’s takes on names like Blueprint, Deo, Zushi, and Wizard Trees. In New York, there is this different kind of quest for brands trying to catch lightning in a bottle out the gate with a win. 

And boy are they. Sixty-seven brands came out in an attempt to qualify for the finals in NYC. They were narrowed down to 20. The qualifying idea in New York inspired the team to bring it back to California. The Greenwolf team selected 25 tastemakers to pick out the finalists. 

“I think there’s going to be some very surprised winners in there. Some brands that you know, people may not have ever heard of, including ourselves,” Adam said. 

Tickets for the New York Zalympix are still available. 

ICEEXTRACT: THE HASH HARDWARE KING

There are few people on the planet that love hash as much as Ashley Gaetrig, co-founder of one of the top hardware companies in solventless hash, IceExtract.

I’ve had the pleasure of judging solventless at The Emerald Cup with Gaetrig for the last couple of years. It’s easy to presume she brings the same focus levels to all her work as she does judging the world’s best hash.

Much of the time over the years she made the hash she was smoking alongside her husband Eric. She emphasized it’s a shared journey. The affection for hash she shares with him proved a major catalyst for where their lives ended up. 

The pair started growing in Michigan for personal use 20 years ago. Eventually, the medical laws passed and they decided to take it to the next level as caregivers.

“Then we got some patients and we were growing the weed for them and basically charging them really cheap prices, $100 an ounce,” Ashley told L.A. Weekly. “That was on top of what we gave to them for free. And then they were buying the crap out of it. And then we realize that, like, oh, this is like crazy. So I started growing larger amounts to supply the dispensaries.”

Eventually, the pair would go on a trip to Amsterdam. While they were there, they tried the Sublimator Vaporizer.

“What it did was destroy our taste for flowers,” Eric said. “Because when we came home from Amsterdam, we started rolling joints again and it just tasted like we were smoking ashtrays. So then we started extracting our trim so that we could smoke hash.”

From there they attempted to research as much as they could in 2013. They started to learn more about how to dry the hash.

Some hash made by Ashley and Eric.

They started microplaning the hash onto parchment paper and drying it in the fridge. Microplaning is just breaking down the hash into a thin sandy looking layer that will release the moisture more efficiently and evenly in the early stages of drying it out, as opposed to the big chunks you get in spoonfuls out of the bag. 

“And we found out that was one of the best ways you can make hash. We fell in love. We haven’t gone back,” Eric said. “We haven’t smoked flower since then. We’ve been strictly nonsolvent hash smokers for 10 years.”

In 2015 the pair would head to L.A. for the cannabis cup and enter, despite living in Michigan. They got to L.A., but the package was yet to arrive. The pair started to freak out a little bit. Eventually, it did arrive. The pair would unknowingly jump in the car to their future home Marietta, where ICEExtract is now based from.

When it was time for the awards show, they ended up winning the SoCal cup that year. Development on the bags started immediately. 

“And then after that, we started making bags basically. My first sale was in 2015 to 3rd Gen at the High Times Cannabis Cup in Michigan in Flint. He bought a set of 20-gallon 8-bag kits,” Ashley said.

In preparation for their next cup, the entry was caught in the shipment to Denver. They would end up getting raided a couple of weeks later. They’d already started looking at bag material samples earlier that winter after the L.A win. This forced them to put their foot on the gas with the bags. They sold their cars and put their life savings into the company, financing one car so they could drive to and from the manufacturing facility.

They would spend two and a half years in Michigan getting the ball rolling on ICEExtract and finishing probation. Eventually, they made the move to The San Francisco Bay area. That was when they made the jump into producing larger commercial-grade extraction equipment and not just bags.

After the CA move came the big hardware used to was the trichomes from plant material into the bags.

“We were sentenced to two years probation. But since we were good boys and girls, we got off early,” Ashley said. “It’s so funny because like a month before we got off, we weren’t even supposed to leave the state without permission for business release right? And we went to Chalice for the last one. I was there and like, literally took a dab and basically almost had a panic attack because I thought like I was gonna get caught.”

The pair noted that toward the end of probation, they knew they had made it when Cookies cofounder Jigga hit them up for some lessons on doing proper extractions. The lessons went great; they said they weren’t sure who was more nervous, them about the meeting or Jigga because he’d never made hash. It was another example of just how welcoming California was to the then-Michigan company. 

Things certainly worked out. But it wasn’t some dice roll, it was effort- and perseverance-based.

We asked the pair what it’s like to see the risks they took before coming to California work out for the best? Ashley quickly replied it was amazing, the way things played out reminds her of all those speeches her mother gave her in her youth about being able to do whatever you want in life if you apply yourself and work hard.

“And that’s essentially like what Eric and I did, every hurdle that gets in our way, we keep pushing it down and keep moving forward and trying to push the envelope for machinery and equipment,” Ashley said. “That is essentially why we wanted to start making the bags. Because like, we wanted better equipment.”

The little tweaks included making the bags a little shorter so they didn’t sit on the hash. That gives it the best shot to be as pristine as possible. They also made the bags a bit more durable than they were seeing in the marketplace. 

Ashley emphasized they just paid attention to detail.

“How can we do this and make these the shit, basically,” she laughed. “When we make and manufacture the equipment. Our goal is to make the best quality out there and it will never change as long as you know, we’re here at the forefront of ICEExract.”

Eric went on to note even with all the success, it was hard to not be a caregiver anymore. They were giving out a lot and it helped many sick people. Having that right taken away from him was one of the hardest things for him to adjust to through the whole process.

“I had to explain to him now instead of us helping just 12 patients and the people that buy our stuff at the dispensary now are helping the whole world like make clean our product and essentially we’re helping more people,” Ashley said. “So at the end of the day, he’s looked at it as being a win whether or not we were directly interacting with patients or not.”

The world of solventless hash is a much wilder monster than it was in 2015. These days, solventless reigns king. They’ve seen the growth as a whirlwind. It was almost like ICEExtract grew with the changing of the times as Ashley sees it.

With the rise of solventless came the fall of BHO. Even world champs say there is no month in it for them anymore. We asked the pair if they ever expected Butane Hash Oil to fall off this far, especially given there are some terpene profiles that just won’t produce through solventless extraction.

“I bet for sure, 100%,” Ashley replied. “Even though a lot of people in the beginning or a lot of the BHO people are like, oh the yields aren’t there. But the health craze is already coming into effect. Where people are more health conscious and stuff, especially here in California and not as much in Michigan. But I think that’s why respect for hash is a little bit greater out here, too.”

THE DREADED REBRAND

Rebranding, whether it applies to products or individuals, poses a significant challenge within the cannabis industry.

As the California cannabis sector gradually emerges from the turmoil of recent years, those who contributed to its struggles seek to join the soon-thriving market. They endeavor to conceal their involvement in the previous failures.

The detrimental effects of rebranding permeate every aspect of the marketplace, extending beyond the legal domain.

The Ambition of the Shady Players in the Recreational Market

Individuals who exploited the industry until now, leaving behind the chaos we find ourselves in, are observing the end of the dark times as bulk prices creep up. They are now witnessing the resurgence of value as the post-pandemic price crash subsides. Who would have predicted that the cannabis industry, only three years later, would find itself in such a predicament after experiencing its most prosperous sales period? However, sales eventually began to decline, and numbers were down for years until we started our recent climb out of the hole. 

But back then, prices continued to plummet, with a market oversupply devastating pound prices. If a product made it to the shelves, one prayed that the dispensary could afford to pay the distributor. You would assume that partnering with major distributors would secure access to the most shelves—a safe bet, right? Nevertheless, we recently witnessed the demise of Herbl, causing a considerable loss of livelihoods. As the company was on the brink of collapse, more aware brands swiftly switched distributors, demanding payment for their products directly from retailers. Unfortunately, it seems that the rest are left empty-handed for now.

I spoke with an entrepreneur who faced the perfect storm caused by the collapse of Herbl. First, he claimed that he was charged an additional $30,000 due to discounts on products that were initially paid on delivery with cash. Furthermore, one of his tenants lost everything in the collapse and hasn’t paid rent for two months, struggling to stay afloat. Lastly, the entrepreneur is unable to obtain the products he needs for his shelves until new distributors pick them up or he figures out how to handle distribution himself. Both options are time-consuming.

It is disheartening to consider that those responsible for inflicting these hardships on so many people may evade accountability. While retailers bear some responsibility for not settling their debts, should we allow those who perpetuated an unsustainable system, which lacks bailouts like the banking industry, to absolve themselves of the sweat, money, and time lost in this ordeal?

Certainly, the blame does not lie with the young individuals manning the booths or attempting to sell the products. They had no say in how far the company would stretch itself before the disaster that unfolded this week. Perhaps only a few individuals bear true responsibility. Understanding each person’s role in that current cannabis tragedy is crucial.

Although Herbl stands out as a recent catastrophe, numerous other companies also mistreated people. Some caused harm inadvertently, while others acted out of misplaced self-belief. However, the most egregious offenders are schemers who are eager to reenter the market, while the other two likely bear some trauma from their actions. We must not allow them to return solely to line their pockets and inflict further damage.

However, the issue extends beyond distributors.

Questionable Retail Operators Sold Shelf Space to Busters

These individuals are the ones who secured shelf space at corporate dispensaries, thereby overshadowing small, high-quality businesses through the payment of slotting fees. It is possible that they initiated the concept of slotting fees completely eroded the notion of customers obtaining the best value for their money from location to location. Many of those who managed to secure such positions were unscrupulous individuals with extensive networks of like-minded opportunists. It was an arduous and lengthy process for smaller retailers to establish themselves, unless they held significant influence or connections.

These people who undermined the initial wave of corporate shops are desperate to regain entry before interstate markets open up. They recognize this as their next prime opportunity to latch onto someone else’s value. We must not permit the worst offenders to jeopardize the national rollout. 

City councils played a role in enabling these unscrupulous individuals to thrive while everyone else suffered, lining their own pockets. Consider the immense financial losses incurred by L.A. Equity Program applicants over the years, following the rules set by a city council that was only revealed to be racist through a secret recording. Politicians throughout the state have also contributed to the headaches faced by the cannabis industry. As the market stabilizes and normalizes, it is crucial that these individuals are held accountable indefinitely and prevented from rebranding. Once we forget that they were never on our side to begin with, we may inadvertently allow them to alter the rules.

As for the underground market, the rebranding problem is mostly just people renaming weed. It’s still shady, but less devastating. 

NEW YORK STARTS LEGAL CANNABIS SALES AT 4:20

We chatted with Housing Works Cannabis Co CEO Charles King as the NYC nonprofit prepares to kick off legal cannabis sales in the state of New York today. 

Most notably, the 10 cash registers and 4,400 square feet of retail space at 750 Broadway in Manhattan will be the only place in the state you’ll be able to get legal weed for months, as other retailers continue to navigate the permitting process. While the idea of this total monopolization may seem off in the era of social equity, given it’s a longtime nonprofit it seems a lot palatable for folks. 

That part is also a double-edged sword. Some fear the Housing Works permit will be pointed to as a sign of intent, when the wider equity program has hiccups like so many have in the past. The officials who screw it up will point to this license to show it was the plan all along to take care of equity and nonprofit permits. That being said, whatever happens next on the regulatory side isn’t Housing Works’ fault and it has as worthy a track record as any nonprofit who might have had the chance to open first. 

Housing Works has provided an array of services to 30,000 homeless and low-income New Yorkers since 1990. The organization identifies as a community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS with the mission to end both homelessness and AIDS through advocacy and providing services. A big part of the way it has sustained the mission is creating businesses like the dispensary, a SoHo bookstore, and a network of high-end thrift shops to fund its advocacy. All proceeds from the dispensary go directly back to the nonprofit. 

The staff are excited to open their doors today. 

“”This is a once in a lifetime moment,” said Sasha Nutgent, store manager of Housing Works Cannabis Co. “That said, our nonprofit’s mission remains as urgent as ever. We are eager to take the lead as a social equity model for America’s cannabis industry, specifically with our hiring practices and continued support of individuals and communities disproportionately impacted by the unjust War on Drugs.”

We chatted with Charles King, CEO of Housing Works, late last week as they prepared for the big day. 

“So we actually approached Gov. Cuomo in his office three years ago about Housing Works being able to obtain a license for retail cannabis sales,” King told L.A. Weekly. “We’ve been pressing the agenda of nonprofits that serve people who have been criminalized by cannabis, due to cannabis related offenses, having the opportunity to enter in the market. That’s part of our reason for doing this.”

King argues one of the reasons it’s been such a long rollout for New York was establishing mechanisms different from any other state in terms of advancing equity interests.

“That said, I think there’s a big question about whether what New York is doing will actually go far enough to accomplish its equity agenda,” King argued. “Housing Works is a large organization where we’re well-capitalized, so we’re prepared to invest up to a million dollars, some to make our cannabis retail work and make it profitable.”

King knows the state is preparing to invest money to back social equity licenses, he’s just not sure it will be nearly enough to be competitive. This would lead to the worst-case scenario of equity license holders turning into figureheads as they attempt to raise the capital they need to stay open. 

“I think that’s going to be the big test,” King said. “We’ve seen it in other jurisdictions, where equity license holders have ended up simply essentially being front people for commercial cannabis. And we certainly don’t want that to happen here.”

Housing Works plans on taking a very hands-on approach on its quest to help the New York social equity movement. For starters, it’s hiring people who have criminal records for cannabis, but it goes so much deeper than that. 

“We’re also developing training programs, not only to help people to advance in management, even with our competitors,” King said.

King hopes that program will help start people’s own journeys to go from cannabis conviction to dispensary owner. 

“We’re negotiating with the Office of Cannabis Management to help people, to allow people to go through a training program with us,” King said. “That would get them credentialed as having met the entrepreneurial requirements for obtaining their own license, and then we would help them with their license application, help them get up and running, so that they can genuinely have an opportunity to enter into business on their own without having to be proxy for some commercial investor.”

Given Housing Works’ wider history of community service, we asked if there was any push back on the team when the conversations about the dispensary started. The organization is no stranger to the subjects around drugs many Americans avoid. 

“We are a harm-reduction organization. We were, over 30 years ago, we were the first organization in the country to house people with substance use disorder without any restrictions on their personal use in the privacy of their home. We didn’t place any drug- and alcohol-free conditions on people moving into supportive housing,” King said. 

Additionally, Housing Works runs two of the largest syringe exchange programs in the state. 

“So, even though we’re a licensed drug treatment provider, our license is very explicit that we use a harm-reduction approach,” King said. “Our goal has never been abstinence, it’s always to help people manage their use in ways that give them effective control over their lives.”

King thinks it’s been more interesting to hear the response from the public who clearly don’t really understand who they are and what it is that they do.

Housing Works expects to be able to offer about 75 to 100 products from six different brands on opening day. As testing gets in order around the state, they expect to be up to about 24 brands to pick from in February. It’s a safe bet every cultivation site in the state will be hoping for shelf space. 

As with many dispensaries across America, they’re currently cash only. There was a recent sweep of offshore merchant services companies prodigy services to the industry, so it’s a little trickier than bouncing from one to the other at the moment. This is even the case for shops that have been open for decades. 

House of Puff is one of the brands on shelves today at Housing Works.

“For years, advocates and members of New York’s cannabis community have been working toward this momentous milestone; the first adult-use dispensary opening its doors, stocked with brands and products grown, processed, manufactured and owned right here in New York,” said Kristina Lopez Adduci, CEO and founder of House of Puff. “We are ecstatic that House of Puff will be one of those New York brands that will be available for purchase and thank Housing Works for supporting us and other local cannabis companies during this crucial moment.” 

Lopez Adduci was also excited as to what the dispensary meant to the broader goals for legalization. 

“The opening of their dispensary is just one embodiment of the vision set out by the MRTA and is a significant step towards establishing a fully operable and equitable legal cannabis industry built by and for New Yorkers and our communities most adversely affected by cannabis prohibition,” she said. 

The Cannabis Association of New York also weighed in on today’s first sales.

“Since the MRTA was signed, now nearly two years ago, we have all been envisioning the moment that legal adult-use sales would finally launch here in New York,” said Allan Gandelman, President of CANY. “The state’s first recreational dispensary opening its doors with shelves stocked full of New York-owned-and-operated brands, including products grown and processed by CANY members, is a culmination of all the hard work, dedication and advocacy of the cannabis community over the past several years. We applaud Housing Works for being mindful and supportive of this vision and congratulate them on their entrance into the industry.”

Gandelman went on to note that while the moment feels surreal, everyone hopes it’s just one of many upcoming milestones.