Cannabis farms are booming upstate, but red tape frustrates newly legal shops in the city. Result: confusion – and a very big stash
Let’s Be Blunt: No smoking in the plazas” is the message that has been placed around Times Square following newly liberalised cannabis laws that have turned New York, some say, into a pot-smoking free for all. The legislation has also set off an upstate cultivation boom that produced 300,000 pounds of weed, valued at three-quarters of a billion dollars, in its first harvest.
So far just a handful of state-licensed dispensaries have opened, a complement to hundreds of weed-selling vape stores, more traditional home delivery services and those calling out their wares in parks and street corners across the city.
