ALBANY — After a slow and tangled start, the legal cannabis business in New York is hitting some new milestones. The number of legal cannabis stores has skyrocketed from about 80 in early 2024 to 275 by the end of the year, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced. Further, retail sales have topped $1 billion since 2023, with about $800 million coming in 2024, the governor said. The … [Read more...] about After a slow start in NYS, number of legal cannabis stores skyrockets, Hochul says
New York
New York is seeing the hidden toll of legal weed: violence, psychosis and mayhem
New York City ended 2024 with a series of horrific subway incidents linked by a hidden thread: the state’s choice to legalize marijuana. Just days before Christmas, Debrina Kawam, a troubled New Jersey woman, was set on fire on an F train and burned to death, allegedly by Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. Zapeta-Calil was deported from the United … [Read more...] about New York is seeing the hidden toll of legal weed: violence, psychosis and mayhem
After a slow start in NYS, number of legal cannabis stores skyrocket, Hochul says
ALBANY — After a slow and tangled start, the legal cannabis business in New York is hitting some new milestones. The number of legal cannabis stores has skyrocketed from about 80 in early 2024 to 275 by the end of the year, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced. Further, retail sales have topped $1 billion since 2023, with about $800 million coming in 2024, the governor said. The … [Read more...] about After a slow start in NYS, number of legal cannabis stores skyrocket, Hochul says
FLUENT Completes Acquisition of RIV Capital, Adding New York Operations to Footprint
Cansortium Inc., a vertically integrated, multistate cannabis company operating under the FLUENT brand, and RIV Capital Inc., a vertically integrated cannabis company operating the Etain brand in New York, are pleased to announce the completion of the previously announced arrangement with RIV Capital (the “transaction”), whereby FLUENT acquired all of the issued and outstanding … [Read more...] about FLUENT Completes Acquisition of RIV Capital, Adding New York Operations to Footprint
New Yorkers unfairly favored in state cannabis licensing program, companies tell circuit
MANHATTAN (CN) — Two cannabis dispensary companies asked the Second Circuit Thursday to halt New York from issuing retail dispensary cannabis licenses, claiming that the state’s Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board unfairly favors New York residents over sellers from out of state. The department uses a lottery system to process license applications. It … [Read more...] about New Yorkers unfairly favored in state cannabis licensing program, companies tell circuit
US men lose their lives after using bat poop as fertiliser for cannabis plants
In a bizarre and tragic case from Rochester, New York, two men died after inhaling spores from bat faeces, known as guano, while planning to use it as fertiliser for cannabis cultivation. The rare lung infection, identified as histoplasmosis, proved fatal despite medical interventions, according to a case report published earlier this month in the Open Forum Infectious Diseases … [Read more...] about US men lose their lives after using bat poop as fertiliser for cannabis plants
NYS legal cannabis sales to hit $1 billion by year’s end
NEW YORK–The state’s fledgling legal cannabis industry is expected to surpass $1 billion in sales by the end of the year, according to the New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). “We are excited to continue creating a vibrant and profitable market in 2025,” said Felicia A.B. Reid, acting executive director of OCM. Cannabis in New York State is expected to grow to a … [Read more...] about NYS legal cannabis sales to hit $1 billion by year’s end
Bat poop used to grow cannabis kills 2 in New York in unusual cases
Two men in New York state have died of a rare fungal lung infection that they caught from bat poop — specifically, poop they were using or planned to use as fertilizer to grow cannabis. Both men, based in Rochester, shared a love of "Mary Jane" and cultivated their own cannabis plants for personal use. They each developed a condition called histoplasmosis after breathing in … [Read more...] about Bat poop used to grow cannabis kills 2 in New York in unusual cases
High-Ranking Assembly Member Calls for Aid To Beleaguered State Cannabis Fund Borrowers
Crystal Peoples-Stokes, the majority leader of the state Assembly, advocated Tuesday to extend financial aid to struggling cannabis store operators who have been saddled with high-cost loans from a “social equity fund” created as a core part of New York’s marijuana legalization program. Speaking in Albany at the monthly Cannabis Control Board meeting, Peoples-Stokes (D-Buffalo) … [Read more...] about High-Ranking Assembly Member Calls for Aid To Beleaguered State Cannabis Fund Borrowers
Cannabis ‘Cannibalization’ Among Concerns of NYS Pot Attorneys
New York's legal marijuana industry has closed in on $1 billion in combined sales since early 2023, with three-quarters of those sales generated during a "whirlwind" 2024, a state policy director said during Tuesday's Cannabis Control Board meeting. The market has thus far amassed nearly $919 million, with New York estimated to "comfortably" eclipse $1 billion when the final … [Read more...] about Cannabis ‘Cannibalization’ Among Concerns of NYS Pot Attorneys
