BudDigest

In the past 10 months, the Official Dispensary Showroom Tour embarked on an intentional journey across New York state, covering diverse regions including The Bronx, Queens, Mount Vernon, Buffalo, Rochester, Long Island, Syracuse, and Poughkeepsie.

From license application bootcamps led by top legal firms to a life-sized dispensary demonstrating compliance with current regulations, the emphasis was on ensuring that under-resourced communities gained the knowledge necessary to actively participate in the ever-evolving New York cannabis industry.

By integrating workforce development and local community groups, the tour not only showcased compliance education but also contributed to equitable job opportunities, thereby reinforcing its role as a model for inclusivity and economic empowerment in the cannabis landscape.

Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have worked with some of the smartest, hardest working cannabis retail operators in the world (and even luckier to now call some of them my colleagues), and I’ve learned a few things from them along the way.

Here are some tips I shared during the tour for anyone looking to open a cannabis retail dispensary in New York:

Identify the decision makers.

When it comes to opening a dispensary, identifying your decision makers and forging connections with them as

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SEATTLE — A group of thieves used a stolen Kia to smash their way into a cannabis dispensary in north Seattle early Tuesday morning.

Diane Walter, the vice president of Have a Heart, told KOMO News she got a call after 2 a.m. saying a car had driven through the dispensary’s Greenwood store, located on the 300 block of NW 85th Street.

Surveillance video from outside Have a Heart in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood shows a Kia backing into the front of the business multiple times. A group of people can be seen standing on the side of the store waiting with bags in hand.

SURVEILLANCE PHOTOS: Smash-and-grab at Have a Heart Greenwood

The video shows the vehicle slam into the front of the building at least three times before it broke through the front doors. The group of people are then seen running inside the store as the driver of the vehicle that hit the building gets out and runs inside.

Walter said there was “pretty extensive” damage to the front of the store.

“They ran a car three times into our steel doors. It took three times for them to break into our steel doors,” Walter told KOMO News. “Our framing, everything is completely torn

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SEATTLE — A group of thieves used a stolen Kia to smash their way into a cannabis dispensary in north Seattle early Tuesday morning.

Diane Walter, the vice president of Have a Heart, told KOMO News she got a call after 2 a.m. saying a car had driven through the dispensary’s Greenwood store, located on the 300 block of NW 85th Street.

Surveillance video from outside Have a Heart in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood shows a Kia backing into the front of the business multiple times. A group of people can be seen standing on the side of the store waiting with bags in hand.

The video shows the vehicle slam into the front of the building at least three times before it broke through the front doors. The group of people are then seen running inside the store as the driver of the vehicle that hit the building gets out and runs inside.

Walter said there was “pretty extensive” damage to the front of the store.

“They ran a car three times into our steel doors. It took three times for them to break into our steel doors,” Walter told KOMO News. “Our framing, everything is completely torn apart.”

Video from outside the dispensary shows the

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The Thanksgiving table at the home of dispensary owners Joshua Corbett and Tifini Scarcella boasts quite the spread. Corbett, who is Black, married the Italian-American Scarcella in 2010, and their feast resembles a tasty mashup of their respective cultures and traditional fare.

“It’s my favorite holiday,” Corbett says. “Our table looks pretty good now. There’s things like collard greens, cranberry sauce, a little pasta and a whole bunch of rare cheeses.”

Corbett and Scarcella own Buku Loud, one of the most popular medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado Springs. But a sizable number of residents have also heard of Buku Loud thanks to the couple’s turkey and teddy bear drive, which is now one of the state’s largest food drives around Thanksgiving.

In 2018, the same year the dispensary opened, they held their first Thanksgiving drive, giving away around 130 turkeys on a couple of fold-out tables. Four years later, the total reached 2,000. This year, the couple led an effort that provided over 3,000 turkeys to those in need, and the meal didn’t end there.

Corbett and Scarcella’s Thanksgiving giveaway on Saturday, November 18, boasted a free farmers’ market complete with sweet potatoes, onions, gravy kits and over 1,000 apple pies, as well as hundreds

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San Francisco APEC turned out to be a gut punch to a commercial area that has been struggling to recover since the pandemic.

Four businesses The Standard spoke to that are based in and around the APEC security zone said contrary to the summit’s billing as a shot in the arm for business, the results were the exact opposite, as food rotted and seats remained empty for an entire week.

Pedestrians walk through and around metal barricades at the corner of Fourth and Mission streets in San Francisco on Nov. 14, 2023. | Source: Justin Katigbak/The Standard

Business owners blamed the lack of customers on messaging urging people not to visit the area unless they had to, the physical barriers around the Moscone Center security perimeter and the protests.

At the Grove, a restaurant on 690 Mission St., revenue was down 40% during the APEC conference, with 350 fewer customers than a normal week, according to David Cohen, CEO of the Grove’s parent company.

‘It Destroyed Our Financials’

“We stayed open to be a part of this event to showcase the city, and we saw a huge sales drop,” Cohen said. “It destroyed our financials.”

Cohen said the Grove is normally packed all day during large conferences

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Driver rams car into Union City cannabis dispensary, steals $1,500 worth of product

The driver of a car crashed into a Union City cannabis dispensary early Tuesday morning, leaving products and merchandise scattered all over the ground.

UNION CITY, Calif. – Three Oakkland teens were arrested on Tuesday after a driver rammed a car into a Union City cannabis dispensary, leaving products and merchandise scattered all over the ground. It’s the third time Flor dispensary has been hit in the last two years. 

Union City Police Sgt. Jiminez said the teens were arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary, stemming from a break-in at Flor dispensary and an attempted break-in at Lemonade dispensary, both in Union City. Fremont police helped find the suspects. 

Police said the teens used a car to break into Flor about 3 a.m. on Courthouse Drive in Union Landing Shopping Center.

Video showed their car backed up to the rolled garage door, and cannabis products were scattered all over the ground. The owner told KTVU that less than $1,000 in merchandise was taken. 

Crews towed the car away about 5:15 a.m. 

Customers began arriving at 6 a.m., when doors usually open,

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Driver rams car into Union City cannabis dispensary

Driver rams car into Union City cannabis dispensary.

UNION CITY, Calif. – The driver of a car crashed into a Union City cannabis dispensary early Tuesday morning, leaving products and merchandise scattered all over the ground.

The car was abandoned at Flor dispensary on Courthouse Drive in Union Landing Shopping Center – it’s unclear if the people inside ran away or were arrested; police did not immediately comment on the situation.

From the looks of the situation, it appears as though the driver backed up into a rolled garage door to break in.

Since cannabis products were scattered all over the ground, it’s unclear if this was a robbery or an attempted robbery. 

Crews towed the car away about 5:15 a.m. 

The driver of a car rammed into Flor dispensary in Union City. Nov. 21, 2023 

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Editorial writers delve into cannabis dispensaries, fentanyl overdoses, health care sharing ministries and more.

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Camden Cannabis Dispensary Opens In A Neighborhood Pharmacy, Thought To Be The First Of Its Kind
Camden now has a dispensary for medical and recreational marijuana inside a neighborhood pharmacy, offering customers one-stop shopping and home delivery.It is believed to be the first dispensary in New Jersey’s growing cannabis industry to be inside a pharmacy, said Anthony V. Minniti, owner and operator of Bell Rexall Pharmacy. (Melanie Burney, 11/21)

USA Today: How Dangerous Is Fentanyl? How Biden Is Fighting Lethal Drug Trade
Our nation is facing the most dynamic and complex illegal drug environment in history, one that takes the life of an American every five minutes around the clock. (Dr. Rahul Gupta, 11/21)

The Star Tribune: Buyer Beware On ‘Health Care Sharing Ministries’
In a Health Care Sharing Ministry (HCSM), “members follow a common set of religious or ethical beliefs and make monthly payments to help pay the qualifying medical expenses of other members,” according to the Commonwealth Fund, a nonpartisan health policy

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BLOC opened as a medical cannabis dispensary in Waretown in July. They are now able to sell pot for recreational use (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)

  WARETOWN – Waretown now has the second recreational cannabis store in the county.

  Bloc Dispensary opened in the summer and originally only sold medicinal marijuana. They recently had a soft opening selling recreational. The official ribbon cutting for recreational will be held on December 1. It is located in the ShopRite Plaza on Route 9.

  Theresa Adamson, Bloc’s National Retail Director, grew up in Bayville. “We are beyond excited and appreciative that we were given the opportunity to serve not only the medical community but offer products to the adult use community,” she said. “There is something special about growing up so close to Waretown and seeing the community grow. I have opened many stores in my career, but this Waretown store is close to my heart.” 

  Johnny Ventura, General Manager Of Bloc Waretown, said “I am very proud of the team and the countless hours of training and preparation. My focus was to ensure that we had the most kind, patient, and educated team. We were the first medical dispensary

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NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2023 – PRESS RELEASE – The Cannabist Co. Holdings Inc., one of the largest and most experienced cultivators, manufacturers and retailers of cannabis products in the U.S., announced its partnership with AiroBrands, a company focused on proprietary inhalation products.

The partnership will initially bring Airo’s cannabis vaporization brand to The Cannabist Co.’s three Columbia Care dispensaries in Delaware beginning this week. Airo will be available through the company’s wholesale channels in the coming weeks. The brand will continue to roll out across the Cannabist Co. dispensary network in markets such as Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania over the next few months, pending regulatory approval.

“Airo is one of the most recognized and innovative vaporization brands, and we are thrilled to bring their high-performance vaporizers and unique oils into our dispensaries. Their products, which offer a consistent and intuitive experience, align perfectly with our mission to provide unmatched, superior quality for anyone who walks into our dispensaries,” said Jesse Channon, The Cannabist Co.’s chief commercial officer. “We are excited to bring these amazing products to additional markets as we continue to meet the expanding needs of our patients and customers as the cannabis industry grows and evolves.”

“We’re excited to be able to provide Delaware with our quality products and couldn’t have found a better partner

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