I saw this first on twitter….
A medical marijuana dispensary company, Med Men, is extending its roots to New York City. It is one of three dispensaries that has moved into the Big Apple. But it is more of a statement than anything, because marijuana has not been legalized in New York–yet.
Currently, there are only 51,000 certified for medical marijuana in New York City. That is not necessarily enough to sustain the large commercial space. But the target audience is not for those using marijuana for medical purposes. The move to NYC is seen as proactive to enhance visibility of the company for non-medical marijuana users.
I think this is a great move, and the medical marijuana users are the test market to see if they beat out their competition in New York.
I was intrigued by the comments from Governor Cuomo in an article that is linked to your post: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/cuomo-follows-nixon-and-takes-a-step-toward-supporting-marijuana-legalization-041318. On whether marijuana would be legalized in New York, Cuomo stated, ” ‘The situation has changed drastically with marijuana. It’s no longer a question of legal or not legal. It’s legal in Massachusetts. It may be legal in New Jersey, which means for all intents and purposes, it’s going to be here anyway.'” This seemed like a rather assumptive comment to me. If Cuomo wants to take a stance against marijuana, saying that “it’s going to be here no matter what” is a pretty weak way to defend said stance. Perhaps this comment was made in response to gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon’s strong support for marijuana that is gaining traction.
Lol, Devil’s Lettuce. I think this subject is actually really interesting, particularly since I’m from California. A lot of growers from California, before legalization, were absolutely against legalization and that was because they had that market cornered. A lot of the time, growers were individuals of a lower socio-economic class who needed to grow in order to provide for their families. Once commercial legalization occurs, grow operations move out of the hands of small families and begins moving towards more commercial larger grows. It’s an interesting phenomena, and since it’s still federally illegal, we’re not seeing Pot Walmart. Good food for thought Shandice!
After reading the above-mentioned article, I have to respectfully disagree with the comment about Cuomo’s stance on marijuana. I believe that Cuomo is well-aware of how prevalent the use of marijuana is in New York, but he did not want to address the issue publicly, just yet. As stated in the article, Cuomo states the majority of the legislature’s opinions are against legalization; however, Cuomo believes in the importance of gathering facts from experts from both sides of the debate before taking an official stance. This shows he is open to change and wants to make a well-informed decision. If anything, I respect the care and thought Cuomo has put forth towards the possible legalization of marijuana over a politician who is set in his or her way and not open to discussion.
https://www.fastcompany.com/40535130/its-happening-will-medmen-become-the-starbucks-of-weed
Intrigued by your post, I read up on Med Men. The article expands more on Med Men’s industry both here in the US and their recent endeavors in Canada. My concern is, with the rise of these fanciful, legal and attractive ‘medical’ marijuana stores, how will street marijuana dealers be impacted?
Nice, I know that a lot of marijuana clinic founders in CA followed a mentality like this. They predicted legalization and made sure to already have their shops in place when that day came. Pretty risky, as this article points out–the customer base of medically licensed patients is pretty small and not worth relying on. Of course, one could bet that non-medical customers will purchase the product second-hand from medical patients, and that thus the clinic’s product will still get sold. but that’s a pretty big bet and its also betting your business on illegal activity taking place.
It would be very interesting to see the various customer validation steps that clinics in CA , Washington, or Oregon took in the years prior to legalization.
The evolution on marijuana laws over the years has been interesting. The culture shift has also progressed towards new norms surrounding the drug. Even John Boehner recently announced that he would join the board of a “cannabis company with an eye toward rolling back federal regulations.” This is a large shift even for Boehner, as he was opposed to legalization over the course of his entire career in Washington.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/04/11/john-boehner-was-a-longtime-opponent-of-marijuana-reform-heres-what-changed-his-mind/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c9b76e0d1320
I find this discussion interesting as it shows how the laws can often lag society’s thoughts. I recently found this article on CNN by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. His 5 year investigation into the medical benefits of marijuana found it could help with the opiod crisis. Due to the science around the benefits of hemp and marijuana, I see the market only continuing to grow which makes Devil’s Lettuce attempt to gain brand awareness a good strategy.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/24/health/medical-marijuana-opioid-epidemic-sanjay-gupta/index.html