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The first weed dispensary opened in New York City at 4:20 p.m. on Thursday
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The first legal recreational marijuana dispensary opened in New York on Thursday and nearly three dozen other stores are expected to start ringing up sales in the coming months.
It's been a long time coming for the Empire State, which legalized weed for recreational purposes in March 2021.
Housing Works Cannabis Co, the first store located in Lower Manhattan, started letting in customers at 4:20 p.m.
Cannabis products are on display during a press conference at the opening of the Housing Works Cannabis Company, the first legal cannabis dispensary in New York City, on December 29, 2022. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Officials are hopeful that New York, the fourth most populous state in America, will be a booming market for the budding industry.
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With a retail tax of 13% on all products, the state is projecting $1.25 billion in tax revenue over the next six years, according to the New York Post.
"Today, as laid out in the Cannabis Law, we begin collecting revenue that will be reinvested in communities all around the state that were devastated by unequal enforcement of drug laws and mass incarceration," Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes said in a statement on Thursday.
People wait in line for the 4:20 PM grand opening of Housing Works Cannabis Co on December 29, 2022 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images / Getty Images)
People wait in line for the 4:20 PM grand opening of Housing Works Cannabis Co on December 29, 2022 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Legal shops will have to compete against the flourishing black market though, which has the advantage of not paying taxes.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a crackdown on unlicensed establishments earlier this month.
"We will not let the economic opportunities that legal cannabis offers be taken for a ride by unlicensed establishments," Mayor Adams said on Dec. 15.
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New York joins nearly two dozen other states that have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes.