Dispensaries: A New Industry Forging Its Own Identity

Dispensaries: A New Industry Forging Its Own Identity – by Liam Sweeny.

Cannabis is smoked with friends unless you’re alone. This isn’t to say we only smoke with people we know. What it says is that when two people get together to smoke a joint, or “pre-roll,” they become instant friends. That’s what cannabis does. And more than that, it relaxes, it heals, and in some cases, it saves lives.

A hundred years of prohibition is ending state by state, and New York ended it in March of 2021 with the Marihuana Regulation and Tax Act. Through the newly created Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), a new industry is growing, and with it, a unique blend of people is shaping it through their dispensaries.

Through an at times complex interweaving of licensing and regulation, 295 dispensaries have been created in New York State, and that number will have grown by the publishing of this article.

One of these dispensaries is Cannabicity in Schenectady, owned by Barbara Vaughn. Cannabicity had its ribbon-cutting in March, and it offers the unique service of providing business tools to other new cannabis license-holders, such as administrative, fundraising, marketing, and navigating the laws and regulations, making it easier for them to get into the industry.

“’Powered By Cannabicity” will bring to bear the experience of Cannabicity’s real estate, retail, and small business owner team members to assist the hundreds of New York CAURD licensees,” Vaughn explained. “A majority of these justice-impacted individuals, who carry prior cannabis-related criminal records, have been unable to access the opportunity afforded them by licensure in New York’s retail cannabis market.”

Cannabicity helps other licensees, in part, because Vaughn sees that there’s room in the region for more dispensaries.

“With the legalization of cannabinoids comes the need for distribution,” Vaughn said. “I don’t feel that the Capital District is oversaturated. You know, if we look at the number of liquor stores per capita, if you do the math, it’s 11 liquor stores for every 3700, 3800 people. So if you do the population in Schenectady divided by the number of dispensaries, each dispensary is handling way more people than 3700 people.”

Vaughn understands the value that a dispensary brings to its community, both in service and economically.

“I think it offers the community of Schenectady, this demographic, a place now to buy their cannabis legally and not have to worry about what is in that product,” she said. “You don’t have to worry about whether it’s laced with fentanyl or any other dangerous substance. So I think that’s a big, big plus for the community. For adults in the community, of course.

“And as far as the business community, successful dispensaries of a significant volume see anywhere from 300 to 700 people going through their doors a day. That’s gonna bring a huge amount of traffic to our location, which is basically the casino/marina ecosystem, right? I think it’s gonna help places like The Costumer, it’s gonna help places like the nail salon. It’s gonna help places like the three bars that are right across the street from us here: Druthers, Shaker and Vine, and The Bunker. I think there’s going to be a very synergistic effect within our ecosystem. Now, will it benefit the city of Schenectady?

“As that many people start coming to our store, logically, they may hang out here for a burger, but they may go into Schenectady and try one of the great restaurants there, right? So I think that that’s all a plus, and I think that could be said for most of the dispensaries that are going to be successful.”

A new industry brings new conventions and new manifestations. There is no “one size fits all.”

Evexia Cannabis is a dispensary in Halfmoon owned by Liberty and Nicole, both proudly Greek. They’ve worked hard to create a special atmosphere that includes recreation and wellness. And their prior careers have weighed in on their aesthetic.

“Evexia means wellness in Greek,” Nicole said. “Liberty and I are both Greek, so that’s how we started, came up with the name, and our goal was to create a space where not only are we trying to break the stigma of cannabis use, but educating people on the overall wellness of cannabis and the various modalities that our customers can use cannabis to help in their daily life.”

Evexia, like many dispensaries, is introducing veteran cannabis connoisseurs and those new to the plant to a variety of cannabis products.

Nicole describes how they guide their customers. “One of the things about avid users is that an avid user might be someone that just partakes in smoking cannabis in flower form,” she said. “That’s probably your most seasoned clientele. That’s how they started. They’re not comfortable with using a vape, and they don’t really know a lot about edibles. So we introduce them to other products because cannabis comes in all forms now. You can drink it, you can smoke it, you can ingest it in candy or pills. We have a lot of those consumers who would have never thought of trying another form of cannabis, where they were just always smoking it, and now they’re taking an edible or they’re taking something with a higher CBD profile because they need to sleep or they have pain. A lot of our clientele are probably middle-aged and up who are really dealing with issues of pain and menopause and sleep deprivation, and I think that we are meeting their needs where they’re at.”

Liberty points out an essential element that forms a pillar of New York’s cannabis program: the science. “I think that one of the biggest components of this industry being legalized is that they are able to really hone in on the testing of products and the creations. There are scientists working for these companies, you know? I think when we take tours of these farms, it is just so mind-boggling to me what they can create from a cannabis plant, you know? And we have, you know, balms for arthritis that are infused with essential oils that are helpful. Just so amazing to see, when we go on these tours, that there’s so much more involved. I wish there was more focus on that because I feel like that would help break the stigma of how these facilities are actually run and how these products are created. You can scan the QR code on their products and it brings you right to their testing site: how they were approved, how they were tested, and what they’re testing at. To me, it was mind-boggling when we went to these facilities just to see everything that’s involved and what you need to do to create these products for the consumer.”

Nicole and Liberty both understand that the essence of a good dispensary is the human connection.

“We always like to go out and meet people so that people can put a face to our name and come in the store,” Nicole said. “Just check it out, give us a chance to show you that you can consume this and still be a positive member of society. And we think it’s really important for people to know that Nicole and I really are the only owners of the store. We did this self-funded. We don’t have big money backers. We chose not to go that route because we wanted it to be personal. So for us, this is a very personal journey.”

400 River is in downtown Troy. It is, as they say, “farm-to-table,” having what’s called a “microbusiness license” which allows them to grow, package, distribute, and sell cannabis. I spoke with Ian about their store and their process.

“Right off the rip,” Ian said, “we are a little bit different than just about every other dispensary, definitely in the Capital Region, and most of the other ones in the state. The official term for it is ‘microbusiness,’ which means that we’re in a sense vertically integrated. We are also the farm, we are also our own processor. We can do all of that stuff, just at a somewhat reduced capacity. When you come into our dispensary, the store here, you are getting flower that was grown by us and maybe ground up by us into pre-rolls, and we roll out the whole thing. I’d say that’s the biggest thing. The other thing is, in the future (hopefully by the end of this year), we’re planning to have a lounge open up here, which would be a very new experience because there aren’t any open in New York State right now. We probably won’t be the first, but we’re hoping to be one of the first, so that’ll have on-site consumption of infused beverages. We may have single-serve gummy stuff. Gelato is one of the things we’re thinking, infused. There’ll be a smoking area outdoors so you can smoke a pre-roll or whatever, light something up if you’re interested in that too. I’d say that’s kind of the core of it anyway.”

He continued. “It’s a little bit of a difficult situation as a microbusiness. We are allowed to open a lounge under the same license. As far as I know, no licenses have been issued specifically for lounges in New York yet, so there aren’t any open. But all the microbusinesses, just by virtue of the way that their license is structured, can, although none of them have done it yet. The one thing that we are waiting on (beyond construction) … is regulations that New York State would have to release. Of course, there’s the law, but then the bureaucrats always have to write out the whole book of how exactly you’re supposed to follow the law. That hasn’t been done yet for launches, so we do have to wait for that to happen first.”

I asked Ian if there would be a cannabis version of the liquor laws in bars, in particular the State Liquor Authority (SLA).

“Exactly. The direction it’s going is that the two are going to definitely resemble each other as time goes on. So, yeah.”

On the topic of marijuana regulations, Ian described a work in progress that’s much improved over the birthing pains.

“There were definitely hiccups as far as the regulatory stuff,” he said. “But like I said, at this point, it’s basically in the past. We’ll see how OCM (Office of Cannabis Management) works going forward, but I am fairly optimistic that things on that front will be at least getting better and less problematic to deal with as time goes on. As far as positives, I would say that … it’s at least a lot of people’s dream to work in the industry. I get an enormous number of people coming in and dropping off their resumes, like almost begging to go work as a grower or whatever. Everybody wants to do this. And the people are very nice. I have worked in other sorts of semi-customer service industries before, and the people are just a lot happier to be coming in and getting their weed versus coming in and getting a pair of underwear or whatever else you’d be dealing with in retail. It’s bringing a lot of the communities together, which before was kind of a black market thing, so it was all very under the table. Whereas now, everything is aboveboard and a lot of the tension has just kind of disappeared. Now that it’s normal, you can admit that you like to smoke a joint sometimes and you don’t have to worry about getting fired from your job or ostracized.”

And while there is a legal difference between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana, many people come into recreational dispensaries for products that help them with common ailments.

“We get a lot of people that fit this mold, people who come into a recreational dispensary to buy for sort of medical purposes. Like, we have these blueberry sleep gummies, and everyone says that they work very well. They work very well for me as far as promoting sleep without having a lot of heavy side effects, like grogginess and stuff that you can get from sleeping pills or melatonin, that sort of thing. We get a lot of people who are a little bit older, 70s plus, who have maybe a couple of health problems and they’re on a couple of other medications. Sometimes, it’s arthritis; they have all sorts of complicating issues. And it’s really awesome to hear that people come in and be like, ‘Oh, this totally solved my problem. I haven’t had this good a sleep in decades. I sleep through the night, it dulls my pain, and I feel great.’ As nice as it is to sell weed to people who are just like, ‘Oh yeah, I had a great night with my friends,’ it feels a little bit better for me to help solve somebody’s serious health problem that’s been bothering them for years, and now they can sleep again, or now they can sit on the couch without being in serious pain.

“We get some people in here who are artists and growers. We get some local artists who are my favorites. There’s a woman who’s local in Troy, who does all of the murals and does a lot of public art installations, and I’ve had some very good conversations with her, too. Maybe we’ll do some sort of partnership in the future, as far as something on the building, something inside. But I like hearing about all the stuff that artists come in with and, being a dispenser, we get quite a few of them coming in, unsurprisingly.”

As far as the proposed lounge, I asked Ian how he thought the atmosphere might be and how it might differ from a bar.

“I think it’s gonna be a different place,” he said. “I mean, we’re not open yet with the lounge, but my vision for it is, it’s gonna be a little bit more low-key than a bar. I don’t quite wanna say like a bookstore because people are gonna be having a little more animated conversations, probably. But it’s gonna definitely be a little bit more low-key, a little quieter, a little more relaxed … than your average bar. Partly just due to the different sorts of vibes that I think cannabis tends to engender. It’s not as rowdy. That’s kind of what I’m hoping for, is that it kind of ends up just more of a chill place where you can come out, hang out with some friends, have a conversation, maybe even read a book in the corner. It’s gonna be quieter than an average bar, I expect, but also still like a place where you can come hang out with your friends. More coffee shop-like, like the whole Netherlands kind of vibe as well.”

Northern Lights Dispensary hits home for me. It’s in Mid-City Plaza in Menands, perhaps one of the most dense concentrations of businesses in the village. Also my old stomping grounds. Joe Kelley owns this store, and runs it with his son as a family business. Formerly in the restaurant business, he marvels at the change in mindset.

“A lot of people come in and they can’t believe it’s finally here, finally legal. Then you’ve got other people that are just like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t know it was really here.’ And then you got the younger generation that’s 21 to 25, and to them, it’s automatic because they’ve seen it now. So I think it’s kind of broken up into thirds, to be honest with you.

Joe is proud of his background and the road that got him to the business.

“Northern Lights is family-owned and operated,” he said. “I’ve got myself and my two children. I have an uncle employed here, kind of like a brother to me, and a few of the locals as well. I come from a restaurant background, so my kids have worked with me for their whole time working. I brought them down here with me, along with one of my cooks, and we’ve been running this now for a little over a year. We’re here 7 days a week, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.”

One feature common to most dispensaries is that they all have a vibe, a personality that draws people in as well as the products they sell. Joe works hard to make them feel easy. “It’s just a friendly atmosphere,” he says. “We normally have Grateful Dead playing on the radio. There’s always music on. We have an open mic night every other week. We have music, usually every Friday or Saturday. We’re working on putting a glass-blowing station in our facility here so that we have events and things that, for example, you can see somebody blowing glass. Maybe you’ll see that for the first time.”

Joe continues. “We have a few pieces of musical equipment in there that people will feel free to stop in and jam out,” he says. “And got a lot of nice artwork, Grateful Dead artwork, and things hanging in a nice room.”

Store layouts differ among dispensaries, though the regulations require a certain inner architecture to, for example, secure the products. But some layouts are similar.

“The store’s kind of like an Apple store atmosphere,” Joe says. “Less stress though. You’re just walking in and everything’s in glass cabinets on display. You’ll leisurely walk the store and check it out; that’s the kind of vibe and there’s no rush here at Northern Lights. Take as long as you want.”

In addition to the comfort and energy of store layouts, the ease and speed of the sales themselves are important. Joe does his part to satisfy the customer on the go.

“Of course, our average sale is probably less than five minutes,” he said. “People are in and out of the store for the most part if they choose to be, but we’re here for information and just to guide people on their journey, give them a pleasant experience, and we’re chill about it. The money’s great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not just about money. It’s about making people happy and having a job where every employee just enjoys coming to work every day because we’re selling cannabis. You know, we’re helping people.”

Joe couldn’t stress enough how different Northern Lights is from his past work in the food business. “We come out of the restaurant industry, pizzeria,” he said. “So we know the complaints and how crazy it can be. And we’ve been here for over a year now and I think we might have one or two complaints. I mean, you never get a grumpy customer. They’re all just chill. We might not have exactly what they want, but we find something that’s exactly what they want, just another brand. And you’re introducing them to new things, which is nice.”

And like any business, Northern Lights has regulars and unforgettable walk-ins. “An old lady came in that was dressed to the hilt … had a coat on, hundreds of dollars, probably. I would dare say 70 years old, and you could see she was influential in her life. Very wealthy, and she claims that she would never ever do drugs in her life. She says ‘This is ridiculous, but my doctor tells me this is natural and it’ll help me sleep. I cannot believe I’m in here. I feel like a crackhead.’ And I’m like, ‘Ma’am, you’re gonna love these gummies. You just take one tonight before you go to bed. Stop in and let us know how you feel.” And days later, she comes in here all teary-eyed. She’s like, ‘I haven’t had seven hours sleep in over 20 years, and I got seven hours this morning.’ She’s like, ‘You know, it’s just absolutely amazing.’ Another story: I was teasing the sh*t out of my kid because it happened to him and then a couple days later it happened to me. My son’s 29 years old; he knows the industry well. He knows the products in here, does my ordering and everything. So we get like a 70+-year-old lady that comes in and she’s like, “OK, listen, this here says it’s sex oil. Now I can put this everywhere, right?” And I’m like, ‘Yeah,’ he’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ He’s all red in the face. He doesn’t know how to handle it, so he’s like, ‘Yes, you can put it anywhere.’ So then she says, ‘So I can rub this right on the head of his penis?’ And now I’m giggling like f**k over in the corner, and the boy is just like, ‘Yeah, I don’t see a problem with that.’ And then she goes further. ‘Do you think I can put it on my clitoris?’ And he’s like, ‘Yes, ma’am. It says everywhere, so I think you can put it everywhere you want.’ I mean, I am giggling, so those stories too you know, you’re helping somebody in a different direction. And that totally came out of left field. We didn’t expect it. Somebody maybe in their late 50s, early 60s, you may, but in the upper 70s, to come in and do something like that. I teased the hell out of him and then it wasn’t two weeks later, the same damn thing happened to me. But this lady stayed in the store for about 90 minutes and we went over everything you could possibly do in the bedroom with this stuff. So he got his payback for me, but jeez, it’s been a great time. You know, like I said, I do it with my children. I mean, they’re grown adults, but still, I’m working with my f**king kids.

As previously mentioned, there is a legal distinction between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana, but to someone suffering any number of common or not-so-common maladies, that distinction is a grey area. Some commercial dispensaries are tailored to holistic wellness.

Transcend Wellness in Troy is a “wellness store that sells cannabis,” owned by Jocelyn Verna Jr., MD. Jocelyn’s approach to cannabis comes from a very personal place: a battle with a rare and deadly cancer.

“I’m a physician in real life, and I say that ‘in real life’ because this whole concept of me selling cannabis in New York State is quite frankly a dream. It doesn’t feel real, still. So what we do: we’re not medicinal, we’re recreational, but we follow medicinal principles and ideologies. That being said, when you walk into our store, the difference between our store and another cannabis shop is everything is established by mood. You’ll see multiple brands in different locations throughout our store because there’s a mood for every type of strain and type of cannabis variant, from tinctures, to the actual flower, to gummies, to the drinks from the heirlooms. Things along those lines. And it’s nine core principles that we have, where you find tranquility, which represents the same thing: dealing with people, dealing with anxiety and depression. You’ll see appetite for myself who’s a cancer survivor, which is one of the reasons that I actually partake in this. Twelve years ago, I was diagnosed with double-hit lymphoma. When the chemo was kicking my butt and I could not eat, I was getting tinctures from California because there are other ways of consuming this product outside of smoke, and I didn’t want to have anything to do with toxins in my lungs (even though cannabis has very few toxins compared to cigarettes and cigars and things). Along those lines, it still has a smoke aspect. So someone like myself – who was under chemotherapy and everything was an irritant – the tinctures and the gummies are what allow me to actually eat food to give me the strength to allow the chemo to permeate through my body and do its job.”

Jocelyn goes further into the journey. “Another thing that helped me as well is the fact that when I got diagnosed, it was the beginning of my residency year. So, that happened. When you’re a resident that first intern year, you’re running like a chicken with your head cut off. So there weren’t a lot of conversations per se with patients about this until I got sick and then I left the hospital because it was a blood cancer and it affects the immune system. I really wanted an opportunity to continue practicing medicine, but without being exposed to nosocomial diseases, things along those lines. So I ended up coming to work for the state. I specialize in epidemiology and virology. I don’t see patients anymore. I just do the background work, specializing in HIV/AIDS. Particularly with the medicine that we utilize for HIV/AIDS and the surveillance of it, seeing how the numbers are moving, are we going in the right direction, etc. But I do have the opportunity to speak to patients outside of medicine and just give a testament of what’s happened for me without it being medical advice per se.”

Jocelyn’s operation is one of many attempts to define the characteristics of an industry that, while very regulated, is wide open to interpretation.

“We just had an event on Friday,” Jocelyn said. “It was paint and puff, OK? One of our moods is inspiration and creativity. It allowed people to be inside there, exploring the products and becoming inspired and becoming creative. We have another event scheduled. It’s called 420 yoga, to allow people to partake in this product that allows them to relax, allows them to release the stress from their mind while exercising, focusing on the yoga aspect.”

Jocelyn continued, “New York State has a Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CUARD) program. Our first store is a CUARD program, even though there are more Transcends coming outside of the CUARD. My partner lost 110 pounds the moment he started utilizing this product. He utilized this flower; he’d smoke and then ride his bike for 12 miles every day. And he called it his gas, his energy. It gave him the energy he needed. He’s in-store. He quit his job. He works in the store every day. That’s how much this product means to him because he says all the time, this product saved his life. Just like I tell everyone this product has saved my life.