FIRST NEW YORK CANNABIS DISPENSARY OWNED BY A JUSTICE IMPACTED INDIVIDUAL OPENS IN MANHATTAN

Marking a major milestone for New York’s Cannabis industry, the first Conditional Adult-Use Retail Cannabis Dispensary in New York State that is owned by an entrepreneur previously criminalized by cannabis prohibition and supported by the New York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund (“the Fund”), opened today at 144 Bleecker Street in Manhattan.

The opening of Smacked LLC helps advance New York’s goals of equity in cannabis licensing, which prioritizes providing licenses to justice-involved individuals, who are people with a cannabis conviction or a close relative of someone with one.

Owned and operated by Roland Conner, the dispensary will be open as a “Pop-up” through February 20. As with some other initial dispensaries to be supported by the Fund, this initial soft opening will provide licensees the opportunity to open on a short-term basis to fast-track sales and start generating capital for their businesses, after which they will close for final construction and then re-open on a long-term basis.