New York celebrates first 4/20 with recreational cannabis dispensaries
NEW YORK -- Officials are celebrating "4/20," the international counterculture holiday commonly known as "weed day" by urging marijuana enthusiasts to buy it legally.
It comes as the state's slow roll out of dispensaries has led to a flourishing black market.
READ MORE: New York State Police cracking down on "4/20" impaired drivers
It was fitting to stop the count at 4 as Mike Geraci cut the ribbon for his new cannabis processing plant in Queens because the opening coincided with 4/20, the day connoisseurs around the world say they "get high with a little help from my friends," as Paul McCartney and John Lennon lyricized.
"It's important that we all stick together, work together, to insure that there's a successful rollout of cannabis in New York state," Geraci said Thursday.
READ MORE: New York City's 5th licensed cannabis dispensary opens in Union Square
Geraci's firm, All In One Extracting & Product Manufacturing, is the first licensed adult-use cannabis processor in the state. It sells flower -- what those in the know call marijuana these days -- as well as edible gummies and chocolates and pre-rolled smokes. It also presses marijuana buds into wax for vaping.
All of this comes as the legal market is being hurt by the vast illegal market.
New York's careful -- some say painfully slow -- rollout has illegal stores popping up, well, like weeds, all over the city.
"My understanding is that there are about 1,700 illegal ones," Manhattan Councilwoman Gale Brewer said.
READ MORE: Open marijuana use is socially acceptable, most say
Brewer has been leading the fight to get the illegal stores closed down, but she is especially concerned about those that have opened up near schools, tempting students to imbibe before class.
"I have one that is too close to a high school, and another one that is too close to an elementary school. Liquor shops would never be allowed in this area," Brewer said.
READ MORE: Gov. Kathy Hochul proposes new enforcement plan to weed out New York's illegal marijuana shops
And with 4/20 now here, Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a massive ad campaign to urge New Yorkers to "buy legal."
"Our harvest will help build an inclusive economy and an equitable cannabis industry," the ad says.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Chris Alexander, executive director of the state Office of Cannabis Management, were on hand for the opening of Geraci's processing plant.
"Some people have said the state has been slow to roll out the program and to issue licenses and the result has been a burgeoning illegal market. Do you think you've been too slow?" CBS2's Marcia Kramer asked.
"Yeah, you know, obviously it's New York and nothing is fast enough, but what we've done in 18 months no state has come close to," Alexander said.
"I'd rather quality over quantity," Richards added.
And with the opening of the new plant, it might be fair to say "weed" my lips, we're getting this joint rolling.
CBS2 spoke with Office of Cannabis Management policy director, John Kagia, about the changes this year and the campaign.
CLICK HERE and watch his full interview above for more information.
