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Happy Days Dispensary, located at 105 Route 109 in Farmingdale, is slated to open Saturday, Dec. 23, according to an announcement by Gov. Kathy Hochul — though that date isn’t set in stone, the governor clarified. 

As the second legal dispensary to open on Long Island since Strain Stars opened in July, also in Farmingdale, Happy Days joins the 37 other adult-use stores expected to open up shop in New York State in 2023.

Alongside the caption, “By the locals. For the locals,” Happy Days shared a progress video of the shop’s construction, confirming that it’s gearing up for its soon-approaching opening. 

Happy Days’ upcoming opening comes on the coattails of a pair of court-ordered injunctions brought against the state’s rollout of dispensaries on Monday, Aug. 7; in mid-November 2023, the New York State Cannabis Control Board (CCB) voted on a settlement agreement to allow the plan to continue on.

Additionally, Hochul said that in an effort to make the local cannabis market as inclusive as possible, eight of the new cannabis shops are majority Black-owned, five are Hispanic-owned, and nine are women-owned — meaning that, while 0.2 percent of dispensaries nationally are Black-owned, New York State’s percentage is 20.

“As

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December 15, 2023 6:58 pm • Last Updated: December 15, 2023 7:48 pm

The city’s first free naloxone dispensary cabinet was erected Thursday on a new pole outside the Taftville Volunteer Fire Department, 134 Providence St.-Route 169. The box shown on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. Claire Bessette/The Day
Buy Photo Reprints The inside of the new free public naloxone dispensary cabinet, installed Thursday outside the Taftville Volunteer Fire Department, 134 Providence St.-Route 169. Box is shown on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. Claire Bessette/The Day
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Norwich ― A new metal box was installed Thursday outside the Taftville Volunteer Fire Department and was stocked later that day with small boxes, each containing two doses of Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal drug.

The dispensary, which is the size of a large medicine cabinet, was placed between the fire station at 134 Providence St. and the neighborhood basketball court.

It is Norwich’s first free public dispensary for naloxone, the pharmaceutical name for the life-saving nasal spray. The right side of the placard urges people to call 911 for emergencies.

Inside, 13 boxes of Narcan are stacked neatly, and several fentanyl test strips and postcards listing addiction recovery resources are

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Missouri cannabis regulators may revoke 11 of the 48 social-equity cannabis licenses issued in October after finding they didn’t meet eligibility requirements. 

Nine were dispensaries and two were wholesale facilities.

Among those who could face license revocation is Canna Zoned, a Michigan company that secured two of the 16 dispensary cannabis licenses — in Columbia and Arnold. 

Both of Cana Zoned’s licenses have been deemed ineligible, according to information the state provided to The Independent Friday evening.

State records show Canna Zoned was connected to 104 out of the 1,048 applications that were entered into a lottery selection for the dispensary licenses. An investigation by The Independent in October found applicants thought they were partnering with the Michigan investor but in reality signed agreements requiring them to relinquish all control and profits of the business. 

Some applicants were recruited through Craigslist ads from around the country. 

Another company that used the strategy of flooding Missouri’s lottery with applications was an Arizona-based consulting firm called Cannabis Business Advisors. It was connected to more than 400 dispensary applicants, including six winners. 

The state couldn’t certify the eligibility for all six of the licenses connected to the firm’s clients.

A Missouri firm, Amendment

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After having $49,000 worth of psychedelic mushroom products seized by police on Tuesday, the Shroomyz dispensary reopened.

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On Thursday, the police’s street crime unit returned, too, with another search warrant, seizing $56,000 worth of products from the storefront on Brock Street.

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This time around, police found $700 in cash in addition to 2.56 kilograms of psychedelic mushroom products.

On Tuesday, police said in a news release that they were granted a search warrant and searched the property at 149 Brock St. During the search, officers seized cash, business signage and a significant amount of psychedelic mushroom products.

Psychedelic mushrooms are a controlled substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, so the trafficking of these products is considered illegal.

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The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Office of Business Opportunity has released the results of the eligibility review for cannabis microbusiness licensees, a key step in the state’s initiative to involve marginalized or under-represented individuals in the legal marijuana market. This follows the passage of Amendment 3 in November 2022, which led to the introduction of microbusiness licenses for small businesses in this sector.

On October 2, 2023, the DHSS issued a total of 48 licenses, comprising 32 wholesale and 16 dispensary facilities. These licenses were designed to bolster participation in the marijuana market, especially among those previously under-represented.

Abigail Vivas, Chief Equity Officer, and her team conducted the eligibility review within the required 60 days of the license issuance. Completed on December 1, the review’s results are now available online. The report details the eligibility criteria cited by applicants and delineates between the licenses that were certified and those that were not. of the 48 awarded licenses 11 were not certified, 2 wholesale licenses and 9 dispensary licenses. Licenses not certified as eligible face potential revocation. In such cases, the licensees are given a 30-day period to provide evidence supporting their eligibility. If revoked, these licenses

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OWOSSO, Mich. — In 2008, following the legalization of medical marijuana, Michigan saw an explosion in dispensaries appearing in empty storefronts across the state. Local governments worked to regulate the market, while a complicated licensure process played out at the state level.

But in 2018, voters approved recreational marijuana sales in the state and the market exploded. The pot industry has boomed, according to state regulators — $1.7 billion in weed sales in the first seven months of 2023. In July, the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency reported more than $270 million in sales in just that month.

But not every marijuana business is booming. Discount Buds in Corunna recently shut down.

“As it’s growing, the competition is becoming more,” said Raymond Abro, chief operation officer of Jars Cannabis.

Abro has a location in Owosso, less than five minutes from where Discount Buds was operating. Abro’s is one of five dispensaries within a square mile. Small towns like Corunna and Owosso became the battleground for survival for retail marijuana Abro said.

“It’s sad to see that somebody had a dream of coming into the cannabis space, mom and pop or big business,” he said. “We’ve seen plenty of big businesses fail as well.”

That includes pot giant

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – If the full legislature would have passed a recreational marijuana bill this month, medical cannabis dispensaries would have been ready to sell product for adult use by early January, Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday morning.

The General Assembly is determined to make changes to the initiated statute legalizing adult-use cannabis that voters approved Nov. 7. The bill preferred by DeWine and passed by the Ohio Senate would have allowed the state’s existing 114 licensed medical dispensaries to sell to Ohioans aged 21 and older while the state establishes regulations and licenses for the about 230 additional dispensaries permitted under the initiated statute.

READ MORE: General Assembly expected to go home for the holidays, leaving recreational marijuana law untouched

The Senate passed House Bill 86 on Dec. 6 and sent it to the House, which adjourned for the year without acting on it. Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens has said there’s plenty of time to fine tune the initiated statute, since adult-use dispensaries won’t be ready until late 2024.

The House, instead, prefers legislation that it says is more faithful to what voters passed in November. House Bill 354 would maintain the number of home grow plants at 12 per household, instead

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HACKENSACK — Hashery, a recreational cannabis dispensary, is opening in the city this weekend in a shopping center along a busy stretch of Route 17.

The opening comes after years of work to obtain approvals and permits and find a location, said Len Coleman, one of the partners.

“We had talked to various cities, but the one that resonated and stuck with us was Hackensack,” he said. “There’s been struggles and hurdles, but we’re excited to be opening. We’ve been popping into the businesses on Main Street. We want to be part of the community, and make the distinction, we’re Hackensack’s dispensary.”

The 4,000-square-foot store at 409 Route 17 South will hold a ribbon cutting event Saturday at 1 p.m. with a DJ, and a tent outside with tables and food for customers.

The shop will be open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. to adults 21 and older and features a drive-through — the second drive-through dispensary in North Jersey. Its products include smokeable flower, concentrates, edibles, capsules, topical creams and vaporizers.

New Jersey cannabis dispensaries have continued opening rapidly with Baked By the River dispensary, Voltaire Cannabis, Hello High dispensary, and Pure Blossom dispensary.

Thus, 65 New Jersey adult use cannabis dispensaries are now open. After years of different difficult delays, they have all been opening quickly, one after another. It used to take months between dispensaries opening. At this pace, New Jersey will see at least one adult-use cannabis business open every week for the next two years.

Baked By the River Dispensary is Holding Grand Opening Saturday in Lambertville

The microbusiness Baked by the River Dispensary will open at 8 Church Street in a historic firehouse in downtown Lambertville in Hunterdon County tomorrow, Saturday, December 16th.

It will feature product discounts from 3-7 PM as well as special performances of a drag show, live music, and art demonstrations.

Baked by the River pledged to pay a living wage in their New Jersey cannabis license application process. They have committed to paying workers $25 an hour.

Business and romantic partners Jesse Marie Villars and Cord Schlobohm own and operate Lambertville’s first local, independently owned, and justice-impacted small business dispensary. Villars is the majority owner of Baked By The River Dispensary.

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CHICO, Calif. — Sweet Flower, a dispensary in Chico, donated $10,000 to the Chico Housing Action Team (CHAT) as part of their initiative to support local groups who do good work in the community.

CHAT provides shelter to homeless individuals throughout Chico, and has housed over 675 people since 2017. They recently opened their newest facility, Everhart Village, which provides 20 individuals shelter in addition to mental health support.

They feel honored to receive such a donation and will continue to help those in need in Chico.

“We were just really grateful for hopefully an ongoing partnership with a local business that’s owned locally, that’s dedicated to supporting our community. We felt very grateful to be chosen by an independent advisory board to be the non-profit that’s doing good work. We’re right in line with their very specific goals to support the community in housing and different things like that so we were really honored to be picked for that,” said CHAT Executive Director Nicole Drummond.

CHAT is thankful for the support from the community and donations like these continue to help them further developments and projects such as Everhart Village.

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