Cannabis was legalized in New York State in March 2021. Just days before jumping into 2023, the state finally opened its first legal recreational dispensary on Dec. 29 at 4:20 p.m. Here’s what you need know how to buy cannabis legally in New York.

What is allowed?

Now, all adults aged 21 and over can possess up to 3 ounces of cannabis (84 grams of cannabis) or 0.85 ounces of concentrates (24 grams) at any time.

In their homes, New Yorkers are allowed to own up to 2.5 kilos of cannabis and grow up to 12 plants.

Also note that all cannabis-related criminal records in New York State have been officially expunged.

How do you know if a cannabis store is legal?

As of now, there is only one legal store in the state. Housing Works Cannabis Co. is the first legal recreational cannabis dispensary and is located at 750 Broadway in New York’s East Village. The business should have a QR code affixed to the property for all to see, to allow customers to verify whether a cannabis store is, indeed, legal or not.

When will other dispensaries open?

Currently, New York State has issued 36 retail licenses, located in various boroughs, which are expected to open in the coming weeks. The official dates have not yet been communicated. The Office of Cannabis Management in New York regularly communicates the progress of the legal cannabis program.

Does a person need ID?

Yes. To buy cannabis in legal dispensaries, an identity document must be presented and checked. Tourists are welcome at New York dispensaries.

What are the products and prices?

Dispensaries offer a wide range of products, including cannabis flower, vape pensof the edibles, pre-rolled joints, and even CBD treats for pets. In terms of price, the website of Housing Works indicates that an eighth of an ounce of cannabis (3.5 grams) is between $40 and $60.

Where to legally smoke cannabis in New York?

Consumers can smoke or vape cannabis anywhere tobacco smoking is permitted by law. Workplaces and public spaces are therefore off limits, as are restaurants and bars.

Unlike smoking, cannabis use is not permitted inside motor vehicles (even parked) or in outdoor dining areas of restaurants.

Cities and municipalities can also set up outdoor consumption areas where people can consume cannabis.

What is the difference between legal and illegal cannabis stores?

Following the legalization of cannabis, an impressive number of cannabis stores, trucks and pop-ups appeared in the state.

Although many of these illegal stores may sell high-quality cannabis, the difference between these stores and the licensed ones is that the latter sell products that are regulated and tested by the state. These products are probably safer, of higher quality and produced under regulated conditions.

The US Virgin Islands are about to join the ranks of US states or territories that have legalized cannabis.

Just two months after Senator Janelle Sarauw tabled the bill to legalize adult use, the Senate easily passed it by an 11-to-1 vote. An amendment on expunging criminal records also passed unanimously.

“While this cannabis legislation has been the subject of many political misstatements, I am proud of the work done by Senators of the 34th Legislature, stakeholders and community advocates, who have all helped shape the final bill passed in session today,” Janelle Sarauw said in a press release.

“The body has exercised due diligence to protect the masses and the best interests of our residents by ensuring that locals and minorities are not excluded from the industry and have the opportunity to participate in its economic potential. . »

Possession of up to one ounce (28 grams) of cannabis was decriminalized in the US Virgin Islands in 2014. In 2019, a bill to allow cannabis for medical purposes was passed by the assembly territorial legislation.

Under the bill passed last week, residents and visitors to the Caribbean island territory will be allowed to purchase cannabis from licensed dispensaries.

“There are so many provisions in this bill across various disciplines, that when implemented and enforced with fidelity, the territory will see an industry that is inclusive and diverse, but above all safe,” Sarauw said in the release. hurry.

“I hope the current administration will implement both medical use and adult use to their fullest potential, for the benefit of the people of this territory. »

Still a few points to define for the Virgin Islands

Although the bill has been passed by a majority and has the support of the territory’s governor, some regulations to govern the cultivation and sale of cannabis have yet to be defined and will serve to create a regulated cannabis industry.

Governor Albert Bryan Jr., who has repeatedly urged lawmakers to legalize cannabis, is expected to sign the Reforms Act.

Bryan has pushed for legalization in recent years and released his own reform proposal in 2019 that stalled in the legislature. He told voters earlier this year to call Sarauw and ask why she delayed introducing her bill. The bill was finally approved by the Senate and is now heading to the governor’s office.

For over 30 years, thanks to countless hits and iconic artists, the label Death Row Records is one of the most iconic and culturally significant platforms in the music industry.

Recently acquired by Snoop Dogg, the famous music empire has become a multi-category cultural platform in the fields of music, fashion, entertainment and cannabis, all united by the blockchain for a new generation.

The launch of Death Row CannabiIt was announced last Thursday via a teaser video, featuring an animation of graffiti artist Eric Haze’s iconic Death Row logo, as well as the reveal of the brand’s upcoming 0.5 and 2 gram pre-rolls and flowers. premium” in metallic sachets.

“Promising to return Death Row to its former glory, all elements of the former label are revamped for today’s audiences and their ever-changing tastes,” Death Row Cannabis writes in a press release.

The first drop will include mylar bags limited edition featuring a new Death Row logo with the prisoner depicted with a free hand “smoking a big doobie“. In addition to Snoop Dogg, other entities are involved in the brand, including SMKRS for culture and TRP, which owns the majority of Cookies stores in the country, for distribution.

Death Row Cannabis is scheduled to launch this January 2023. California Cookies stores (Brentwood, San Bernardino and San Diego) will be the first to carry the brand before it expands to other locations and states.

For 2023, the Italian army intends to produce “700 kilograms of top quality cannabis” to cover almost half of the 1,500 kilograms required each year in the country.

“The next step is self-sufficiency – that’s our ambition,” he told DefenseNews Nicola Latorre, who heads the Italian agency overseeing the operation.

If medical cannabis is legal in Italy, the country now imports it mainly from the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark or Germany. In 2019, the Canadian company Aurora won the supply of 400 kilos of medical cannabis.

The Italian army is the only local source of supply thanks to a production site located on the outskirts of Florence and has produced between 30 and 200 kilos of medical cannabis since 2017 depending on the year. In 2020, it produced 37 kilos for 3% of the therapeutic cannabis supplied to Italian patients. In 2021, it was 102 kilos (8% of the cannabis supplied). In 2022, at 300 kilos according to the figures she gives to DefenseNews and not verified by an independent source.

In order to reach its goal of around 700 kilos in 2023, “the technicians are perfecting the lighting, watering, temperature and ventilation, and they are using a mixture of secret nutrients developed in-house which are mixed with the irrigation. hydroponics. »

“We hope that the sterile room [à Florence] will produce up to 100 kg of cannabis each year, strictly intended for patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis and people suffering from other pathologies that could be relieved by the drug”, reported in 2016 the Italian army.

Colonel Gabriele Picchioni, who oversees the cannabis facility in Florence for the Italian military, told DefenseNews that the lab “aims to produce cannabis-infused olive oil, which users can take in the form of drops.”

“What we can do in Florence is produce a highly standardized product so that the dosage is invariable, at the same price that we currently pay for imports,” Picchioni said.

The reasons the country’s military has been put in charge of cannabis production are twofold: “to produce cannabis in a secure facility, and because the armed service has been in the pharmaceutical industry for decades, producing antidotes to chemical warfare and malaria pills for the soldiers”.

The army “also manufactures so-called orphan drugs, that is, drugs intended to treat rare diseases or conditions that large companies ignore because of low production rates”. It produces “four such drugs to supply 3,000 people in Italy”.

As cannabis production intensifies, the army grows only two varieties of cannabis: FM1 (13%-20% THC <1% CBD) and FM2 (5-8% THC 7-12% CBD), which mean Farmaceutico Militare.

FM1, however, struggles to match the THC levels of strains like Bedrocan (a 22% THC Jack Herer), the company’s bestseller of the same name, and the production of FM2, which contains levels of cannabinoids similar to Bediol from Bedrocan, is so far insufficient.

Thursday, December 29, 2021, the Council of State definitively canceled the government decree which aimed to ban the trade of CBD flowers in France, almost a year to the day after its publication by the French government. The decree had already been suspended at the beginning of 2022 after several players in the CBD hemp sector mobilized.

The Council of State ruled that the general and absolute ban on the marketing of hemp flowers and leaves in their raw state was “disproportionate” and that their sale does not “create a risk to public health” which could justify this prohibition.

“In the state of scientific data, the harmfulness of other molecules present in cannabis flowers and leaves, in particular CBD, has not been established. »

The Council of State also recalls the data currently available on CBD, in particular its “decontracting and relaxing properties and anticonvulsant effects, [sans]psychotropic effect and [sans provoquer] of dependence”.

As various French actors have shown since 2019, the Council of State recalled that the police could tell the difference in the event of a check between CBD cannabis and THC cannabis “by means of rapid tests”.

The Council of State therefore obliges the government to authorize the free sale of hemp as well as its cultivation by all. The decree issued in 2021 thus restricted the cultivation of hemp to farmers only.

By deciding definitively in favor of the free sale and cultivation of hemp, the Council of State is burying a war on CBD that began in 2014 against Kanavape, “the first 100% legal hemp electronic cigarette” according to its founders.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), then the Court of Cassation, had to confirm that cannabidiol could not be considered a narcotic, having “no psychotropic effect or harmful effect on human health”. This did not ultimately prevent the government from wanting to ban its retail sale.

“From a legal point of view, we had reasonable confidence in the decision, but it is still a relief for the industry. At first, the state even wanted to ban the CBD molecule. We have not lost a single battle and the law is on our side,” Aurélien Delecroix, president of the Professional Hemp Syndicate, who attacked the decree alongside other players, told Liberation.

The year 2022 will be remembered as the year in which Europe embarked on the legalization of cannabis. In the final days of 2021, Malta became the first country to end cannabis prohibition. The first Cannabis Clubs should have opened this year but, lack of means or lack of will, the first Club licenses will be distributed in 2023.

Germany struck a blow by confirming its desire to legalize cannabis. The country’s Minister of Health finally presented the main points of the legalization project at the end of the year, which may evolve as national or European discussions progress. The country indeed wants to seek the “agreement” of the European Union (or rather the lack of objections) before launching their project.

The idea has infused in the Czech Republic which is committed to the same voice. Under the leadership of Jindřich Vobořil, its national co-ordinator for drug policy, the country has pushed the EU to establish new rules that emphasize the promotion of human rights in drug policies.

For their part, Switzerland and the Netherlands are setting up their own trials on cannabis for adult use. Switzerland, after some difficulties, should start its little trial of controlled distribution of cannabis in the city of Basel. The Netherlands has started distributing licenses to legally produce cannabis for coffeeshops. The many delays have pushed back the start of the experiment to an indefinite date.

In Luxembourg, the legalization of self-cultivation has been adopted by the Luxembourg government.

In France, fixed fines for simple use are only paid up to 34% according to the latest figures communicated and have taken minors out of the prevention of cannabis use. French patients will not have access to medical cannabis this year, the experiment having been extended for a year to “prepare the French sector” of cannabis production. The assessment of the experimentation with therapeutic cannabis noted, however, that the medical cannabis distribution circuit was “Achievable and operational”.

France has also tripped over the CBD carpet, having tried to ban the retail sale of hemp flowers and leaves. Pending a decision from the Council of State, CBD stores were able to continue to sell freely and without regulation other than the limit rate of THC.

Before seeing what 2023 has in store for us, let’s take a look back at the most read articles on Newsweed in 2022.

The cultivation and production of medical cannabis authorized in France

The cultivation of cannabis for medical use is now authorized in France. A decree published in the Official Journal on February 18 and entered into force on March 1, 2022 authorizes the cultivation of cannabis “for the purpose of manufacturing medicines”.

However, the rules for obtaining a production license or for any operation relating to the production of medical cannabis are not yet known.

Read the article

Study: CBDa and CBGa prevent Covid infection

Much publicized and often misunderstood study. Two acidic compounds in cannabis, CBDa and CBGa, prevented the virus that causes Covid-19 from entering healthy human cells, by binding to spike proteins (the proteins spike) present on the virus and blocking a step that the pathogen uses to infect people.

This is not a reason to consume more cannabis, CBDa and CBGa disappear as soon as they are heated.

Read the article

A new device to detect driving under the influence of cannabis?

Boston researchers claim to have developed a new, non-invasive technique for detecting cannabis-induced highs that can tell the difference between people who are truly impaired by cannabis and those who are just consumed recently.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discarded older methods that attempt to infer functional impairment from the amount of THC in a person’s blood or saliva, in favor of a more direct approach: light imaging that allows the brain itself to be observed.

Read the article

CBD flowers prohibited, maximum THC level rises to 0.3%

After eight months of consultation, the French government published a decree in the Official Journal to end the retail sale of CBD flowers. The decree, which generated a lot of incomprehension, was partly overturned by the Council of State which must give its final decision on this specific point in the coming days.

Read the article

Brigitte Macron grows hemp at the Elysée

This year’s April Fools!

Read the article

The Senate publishes a note on the decriminalization and legalization of cannabis

Every 10 years since 2002, the Senate updates its study of comparative legislation on the decriminalization and legalization of cannabis. The third edition has been updated and published on the Senate website.

Read the article

Is HHC legal in France?

The arrival of products containing HHC, a semi-synthetic molecule obtained from CBD, has led us to question the legality of this neocannabinoid. As often, the answer is complex.

Read the article

Cannabis CBD washed with pentane to lower THC levels

CannabisIndustrie.nl reports that light cannabis is washed with pentane by some European producers to drop below the authorized THC percentage. Besides the health hazards, the gas is easily flammable and has already caused deaths in Italy.

Read the article

Canada: The cannabis industry has generated CA$15 billion in taxes and 151,000 jobs since legalization

Canada’s cannabis sector has generated over C$15 billion in direct and indirect tax revenue for Canadian and provincial governments, while creating over 151,000 jobs since Canada legalized cannabis for adults in October 2018.

Read the article

Canada’s Leading Cannabis Retailer Set to Open Cannabis Stores in Germany

North American cannabis retail leader High Tide has unveiled its plans to establish its footprint in the future adult cannabis market in Germany.

Read the article

the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policingwhich brings together British police chiefs, are currently drawing up a plan to decriminalize the possession of drugs, including cannabis and cocaine.

14 of the UK’s 43 police forces have already adopted policies similar to the drug decriminalization proposal put forward by the country’s chief constables. But the plan is at odds with the country’s Conservative Party government, which has launched proposals to toughen penalties for illegal drugs including cannabis.

If the plan is adopted by the UK government, the use and possession of small amounts of recreational drugs would be treated as a public health concern for first-time offenders, rather than a criminal offense punishable by prosecution and jail or prison time. other penalties.

People caught in possession of illegal drugs would be offered the opportunity to attend drug education or treatment programs, rather than being prosecuted. The police would take no further action against those who agree to take the program, giving them a chance to avoid a criminal record. People who do not complete the program or who are subsequently caught in possession of illegal drugs would still be subject to criminal prosecution.

Jason Harwin, a former NPCC official and former Deputy Chief of Police, works with the College of Policing on the new strategy of partial decriminalization.

“We shouldn’t criminalize someone for possession of drugs,” he told the Telegram. “It should be a referral to other services to give them a chance to change their behavior.”

In October, UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman revealed that she was considering strengthening the classification of cannabis under national drug law, as she fears cannabis is a drug. -bridge [ndlr : théorie débunkée dans les années 70] and does not lead to serious health problems.

Braverman opposes the decriminalization of cannabis, saying cannabis policy reform efforts send a ‘cultural’ symbol that cannabis use is acceptable, according to a report by the Times. The Home Secretary is also concerned about evidence that cannabis use can lead to serious physical health problems, including cancer and birth defects, and mental health problems, including psychosis.

The stricter Class A drug designation for cannabis would make penalties for cannabis-related offenses tougher, including prison terms of up to seven years for possession and sentences of up to life in prison for cannabis producers and suppliers.

“We need to scare people,” she reportedly said, to justify tougher penalties to deter cannabis use and trafficking.

In July, Priti Patel, then Home Secretary, announced she was proposing new penalties for users of cannabis and other drugs, including the confiscation of driving licenses and passports, as part of of a new three-strike policy for illicit drug use.

“Drugs are a scourge for all of society. They devastate lives and tear communities apart,” Mr Patel said in a government statement. “Drug abuse endangers lives, fuels serious and violent crime and crime, and also results in the grotesque exploitation of vulnerable young people. »

Under the proposal, which was detailed in a white paper drafted by the Home Office, those caught in possession of illegal recreational drugs would face fines and a compulsory drug internship. They could also be denied access to nightclubs and other places of entertainment.

“That is why the government is committed to tackling both the supply and the demand for drugs, as set out in the ten-year drug strategy,” said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health. inside in a statement to the press. “Our white paper on new, tougher penalties for drug possession presented proposals to tackle demand and we welcomed views on this. We will publish our response in due course. »

However, in an open letter to the government released last Sunday, 500 public health and drug enforcement organizations and experts expressed “serious concerns” about the government’s plans which they said would penalize youth and vulnerable people and would divert valuable police resources from tackling the root of the problem.

Professor David Strain, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the British Medical Associationsaid the government’s plans appeared to “double down on a failed model by promoting ever-tougher penalties that perpetuate the stigma and shame that already prevent individuals from seeking help and ultimately discourage drug users to seek the health services they need”.

New York’s first legal adult-use cannabis store will open next Thursday, Dec. 29, according to an announcement from Governor Kathy Hochul’s office.

“Just nine months ago, we set out to launch the New York adult cannabis market on the right foot by prioritizing fairness, and today we are achieving that goal. The industry will continue to grow from here, creating inclusive opportunities in every corner of New York State, with revenue going to our schools and revitalizing communities. said Governor Kathy Hochul.

the dispensary, Housing Works Cannabisis a nonprofit charitable organization located near St. Mark’s Place in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan.

Housing Works store manager Sasha Nutgent called the launch a “unique moment”.

“We look forward to taking the lead as a model of social equity for the American cannabis industry, specifically with our hiring practices and our continued support for people and communities disproportionately affected by the unjust war on drugs,” Sasha Nutgent said.

“I’m thrilled that a nonprofit like Housing Works, which supports formerly incarcerated people, is leading the way when it comes to selling,” said Tremaine Wright, president of the Cannabis Control Boardthe New York State cannabis regulatory body.

“The start of sales through the initiative Seeding Opportunity is just the beginning of the robust ecosystem we are building – a fair and inclusive marketplace will grow from here with supports throughout to ensure licensees are able to overcome barriers and to build this new industry. »

So far, New York cannabis regulators have issued 36 adult cannabis dispensary licenses, including 28 to businesses and 8 to nonprofits like Housing Works.

To obtain one of the non-profit retail licenses, businesses must have at least one board member who has had a run-in with the law and must provide employment opportunities for those who have been convicted of use or possession of cannabis.