Category: Marijuana News

HOBOKEN, NJ — A proposal to allow cannabis dispensaries to be up to 200 feet from schools has been pulled from the City Council agenda for Wednesday, Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher said.

The proposal would have changed the existing rule saying dispensaries cannot be within 600 feet of a school.

Fisher said in her newsletter on Wednesday afternoon that after she and Councilwoman Jennifer Giattino proposed an ordinance to oppose the change to 200 feet, Councilwoman Joe Quintero called her to say he was pulling the 200-foot proposal, in the spirit of working together.

“Councilman Quintero called me a short time ago, minutes before I was going to send my newsletter with a call to action opposing his ordinance…perfect timing!” Fisher wrote in her newsletter on Wednesday afternoon. “We agreed to pull both pieces of legislation from the agenda. We also agreed to together in the near future to review the landscape and the map to ensure that our laws support a responsible, social equity driven cannabis industry in Hoboken that has necessary enforcement mechanisms … I believe the feedback the City Council and the mayor [were] getting from residents in opposition to changing this law helped. Thank you to CM Quintero

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HOBOKEN, NJ — With more than a dozen schools in mile-square Hoboken, some residents believe a law forcing cannabis dispensaries to be at least 600 feet from a school is too restrictive.

Council members Phil Cohen and Joe Quintero are sponsoring a proposal to allow dispensaries to open as close as 200 feet from a school, which would remove some legal hurdles to dispensaries like Blue Violets.

The proposal notes that the city wants to regulate dispensaries more like the state regulates alcohol-serving establishments (which are also prominent in Hoboken).

It says, “[T]he Hoboken City Council recognizes it is the intent of the NJ in the CREAMM Act to ‘adopt a new approach to our marijuana policies by controlling and legalizing a form a marijuana, to be referred to as cannabis, in a similar fashion to the regulations of alcohol for adults”…

The group Hoboken for Responsible Cannabis has argued that Blue Violets is 250 feet from two schools.

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ITHACA, N.Y.— The owner of the anticipated Dryden Dispensary said the store will open for business April 20 after The Ithaca Voice reported the plans to establish the first cannabis dispensary in the town last year. 

The store will operate a drive-thru service, according to an initial mockup provided by Chris Diemand, owner of Diemand Properties in Ithaca and acting landlord and consultant of the dispensary. 

While the drive-thru won’t be operational for another few months after the initial opening, Diemand said the dispensary will be equipped with “Chili’s style” pick up spots to increase accessibility in the meantime. The spots will remain after the drive-thru window opens. 

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After initial research, The Ithaca Voice was unable to locate other dispensaries in the state that operate a drive-thru service like the one proposed here. But New York State law allows licensees to operate a drive-thru service window and/or drive-thru order pick-up lane according to reporting from 2022. 

The opening of the new dispensary follows the closure of Tompkins County’s sole other dispensary, William Jane, which is located on the Commons in Ithaca. It closed for renovations Jan. 3

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Like an artistic resurrection, it was there, it was gone, and now it’s back. In the last week, the owners of the new Emerald Dispensary in Bushwick painted over a large mural depicting the late Brooklyn rap legend Biggie Smalls as a baby, which had watched over the corner of Suydam Street and Evergreen Avenue for years. After the mural’s covering drew immense anger both locally and online, the dispensary restored the painting in a “blast-off” event this Saturday, February 17.

Brooklyn street artist Huetek painted the B.I.G. mural on the side of 85 Suydam Street in late 2020, and it was an immediate hit. The tribute painting was loved by the community and left untagged throughout its three-year run. However, Emerald Dispensary owners Christina De Giovanni and Ray Roman mistakenly believed that the mural could violate the State’s Office of Cannabis Management’s (OCM) established advertising regulations and prevent them from opening their business on time.

@media ( min-width: 320px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 100px;}}@media ( min-width: 640px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 100px;}}@media ( min-width: 960px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 100px;}} The dispensary owners used removable anti-graffiti paint in order to preserve Huetek’s mural, which peeks out slightly beneath the layer. (photo Elaine Velie/Hyperallergic)

“Regardless of the

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A ‘new arrival’ to this busy intersection in the Hopewell Junction/East Fishkill area has people talking, lots of people in fact.

It seems as though a mobile dispensary bus has been parked in a business parking lot off of Rt. 82 near where it meets Lake Walton Rd has the local community in a frenzy.

Google Maps, seansdispensarybus

Google Maps, seansdispensarybus

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Dispensary Bus Parks Outside Hopewell Businesses

I actually drove by the extremely eye-catching converted bus the other day as I was heading into Hopewell from Wappingers Falls, and didn’t think twice when I noticed, and also didn’t think to grab a photo now that I think about it.

It appears that many people who did drive by and see what is being referred to as the ‘pot mobile’ parked at 562 Rt. 82 in Hopewell Junction did in fact have concerns about why it was there and the legality of it actually doing business in this town.

SEE ALSO: Yelp Names 3 Hudson Valley Pizzerias as Best in the Country for 2024

The truck, which is operated by dispensarybus.net has been parked immediately out front of what once was Lastin Impressions Tattoo, and adjacent to Pan and Peel Pizza and CC Sounds Car & Stereo. According to the Dispensary Bus

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MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (PIX11) — Hans Fleuriot says it’s about time that Westchester County residents can purchase marijuana legally.

He was among the first to see it happen.

“For those that were in the dark or in the shade, they can come out to the light and be a part of the community and not feel shunned,” said Fleuriot.

Small plane lands on Southern State Parkway in Suffolk County

The Elevate Cannabis Dispensary in Mount Vernon is the county’s first marijuana dispensary. The latest dispensary joined the more than 60 similar shops that have sprung up across New York since the state legalized marijuana. City leaders touted the grand opening and as a win-win for residents citing the potential for job creation and additional tax revenue that could go toward city programs.

“We are not celebrating the cutting of a ribbon,” said the Mayor of Mount Vernon, Shawyn Patterson-Howard. “We are talking about really unlocking opportunity. Understanding that the cannabis industry is an industry that will create jobs. It is a retail industry and Mount Vernon is excited to be at the forefront.”

Patterson-Howard stressed that opening this and future dispensaries does not promote

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The owners of New Metro, the first legal dispensary in eastern Queens, wanted to mix retro and modern with a print newspaper aesthetic.

Photo by Iryna Shkurhan

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Almost two decades ago, as a fresh-faced teenager who just graduated from Cardozo High School, Sean Kang was arrested on cannabis charges near his Bayside home. 

On Monday he felt a sense of justice as he opened the doors to the area’s first legal dispensary – New Metro on Horace Harding Expressway. The newspaper themed dispensary, which used to be a hot yoga studio, is the last store on a tucked away strip with several Asian restaurants. One of Kang’s arrests for possession took place just a block away. 

“It was a way different landscape back then. They don’t even give you a ticket for smoking outside now,” said Kang at the grand opening of the store on Feb. 19. “Looking back, it was a gift and a curse.”

Road to Opening Day 

Kang was one of the recipients of the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CUARD) license which

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The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) announced their dispensary directory now lists 102 medical and adult use/recreational legal New Jersey cannabis dispensaries.

The NJ-CRC’s directory includes 42 New Jersey cannabis dispensaries that serve patients and recreational consumers, 9 that are exclusive to patients, and 49 that only serve recreational consumers.

At least 36 locations of the 102 are owned by cannabis corporations that are Multi-State Operators (MSOs).

Last week, Heady NJ noted that 100 New Jersey cannabis dispensaries have already opened while the quality of products and prices remain serious issues. We have covered the quick pace of Grand Openings as best we can since at least one to two dispensaries are opening every week now.

“When the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission was established, our administration’s goal was to develop a stronger, fairer, and more equitable model for the rollout of an adult-use cannabis market. Reaching 100 cannabis dispensaries is a huge milestone that shows we are headed in the right direction,” declared Governor Phil Murphy (D). “As we continue towards our goals for the cannabis market in New Jersey, I am grateful to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission for their dedicated work and leadership on this critical area of our

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Minneapolis has neighborhood coffee shops, neighborhood bars, neighborhood bodegas, and neighborhood dry cleaners. With the ever-expanding THC legalization in Minnesota, could neighborhood weed stores be next?

If you live near Bryant Avenue and 36th Street in south Minneapolis, the answer to that query is yes. Since its soft opening in December, Flipside Dispensary and Music has been selling a modest-but-varied mix of CBD and THC products. But like any good neighborhood shop, husband-and-wife co-owners Tess and Josh Fellman want you to feel like you’re welcome to stop by and just hang. That’s where the used vinyl listening lounge comes in.

“We know that 90% of our traffic is going to be from people who can either walk or bike here,” Josh says. “So we wanted to give them a space to spend time if they need 30 minutes to like, chill out.” 

The music loungeProvided

Located across the street from Bogart’s Donuts and kitty-corner from Gigi’s Cafe, Flipside is located in an area (technically the edge of East Harriet) teeming with apartment complexes both affordable and luxury, condos, single-family homes, and a large senior living facility. That’s made for some interesting clientele, from seasoned THC pros in their twenties to boomers who never moved

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The Notorious B.I.G.’s famous mural in Brooklyn has been restored after being painted over by a weed dispensary.

On Sunday (February 18), it was announced that the Bushwick mural, which features Biggie as a child, would be restored.

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The trouble began earlier this month when the tribute, by artist Huetek, was painted over. The dispensary’s co-founder Christina De Giovanni told the New York Post that advertising regulations from the New York Office of Cannabis Management had forced them cover it, and that they “didn’t want to take it down.”

It turns out, though, that only advertisements “enticing” civilians were not allowed by the Office of Cannabis Management.

Biggie mural restored after being painted over by Brooklyn weed dispensary pic.twitter.com/p2uUSOQRH5

— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) February 20, 2024

This crucial caveat led the way to the mural being restored.

“New York Cannabis Law does not regulate murals or artwork that don’t advertise a cannabis business or entice youth to enter an adult-use dispensary,” said a statement, which was viewed by the paper.

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Upon hearing the news of the mural being taken down, Huetek posted a pair of Instagram stories in response.

“At the end of the day the n-ggas with money pushout the culture and the essence of what the

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