Long Island’s first legal recreational cannabis business cut its ribbon and opened its doors last week, marking another milestone in New York’s ever-expanding adult-use marijuana market.
The dispensary, called Strain Stars, opened on Saturday in Farmingdale, New York.
“It was a long way,” Kamaldeep Singh, an owner of the store, told local news station FOX5 New York. “And I’m happy we made it.”
According to the station, “hundreds” of customers lined up amid hot weather for the store’s grand opening.
News 12 Long Island reported that the grand opening “featured a DJ, food trucks and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.”
New York legalized recreational pot for adults aged 21 and older in the spring of 2021, when then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation into law.
Parts of the measure took effect immediately––most notably, adults were permitted to smoke weed––but the state-regulated market has been slower to take shape.
After Cuomo resigned in August of 2021, Kathy Hochul became the state’s first female governor––and immediately made it a priority to get the adult-use cannabis program up and running.
The first legal adult-use dispensary opened late last year in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, and other retailers have since opened in Manhattan.
But other New York