Queens’ dispensary seeks license to compete with illegal smoke shops
Eli Yaman stands behind the polished glass counter of his new dispensary. The colorful LED lights that line the walls reflect off the glass flooding the open space with a red and pink hue. The doors are open, inviting the warm breeze in, the shelves behind the counter are decorated with funky stickers promoting different brands of edibles and pre-rolls.
One particular shelf holds every color of disposable vape imaginable. Signs advertise its flavors, “gummy bear mix”, “watermelon ice”, “blue razz cherry”. There is a small chalkboard sign that holds the doors open, on it, a caricature of a marijuana leaf with big eyes and a grinning smile with a speech bubble on top is drawn. The words, “Come get high with us!” is scribbled into the speech bubble in colorful characters.
This is Ganja Dispensary, one of the seven cannabis dispensaries that have opened Richmond Hill in the past 18 months. Just like the other six, Ganja Dispensary is still waiting for a license.
New York City currently has an estimated 1500 illegal cannabis sellers, according to a statement made by Mayor Adams in February.When the application window for cannabis distribution and sales in New York opened on Oct. 4, dispensaries across the city filed their application.
“We was promised licenses, we have all applied for them, but they are not giving licenses to no one.” Yaman, 32, said. He added that they were told that because Richmond Hill was a working-class neighborhood with a predominantly minority population, they would be among the first to receive licensing.
According to the 2021 census, 75% of Richmond Hill’s population is made up of minorities. Yaman opened the dispensary with his brother this past February. Despite not having a license yet, they have chosen to continue selling cannabis products while they wait for the legal permit they applied the day the application opened.
The application window will remain open for the next two months before closing again. According to a press release by the Office of the Governor, half of the available licenses will be awarded to veterans and minority owned businesses first before moving on to the rest of aspiring vendors. Katherine Harris, a fellow in drug policy at Rice University’s Institute for Public Policy said, “what the state needs to do is a very careful and delicate balance of getting dispensaries in the hands of minority-business owners without flooding minority neighborhoods with too many dispensaries.” She says that the problem of too many dispensaries in minority and working-class neighborhoods, like Richmond Hill Queens will give way to far too much access, “If we have too many dispensaries in working class neighborhoods, it’ll be like how we see far too many liquor stores in poor communities. More liquor stores give way to easier access and more alcoholism within that community, so policy makers need to try to mitigate that with the benefits of opening dispensaries.”
Along with the opening of the application window for distribution and retail licenses, Governor Kathy Hochul has also announced a new crackdown on illegal smoke shops. Ganja Dispensary was raided and fined in June for selling cannabis products with no license. They were the only dispensary in Richmond Hill to receive any consequences despite the other smoke shops also operating without a license. Residents of the community say that there are bigger problems that the city should be focusing on.
Mark Antoni, 29, moved to Richmond Hill 8 years ago from Guyana. He currently works at a tattoo shop on 129th street and is a frequent client of Ganja Dispensary. He stated that the city should be focusing on all the auto theft happening in the neighborhood instead of cracking down on local business owners. Richmond Hill has seen a 37.5% increase in grand larceny auto according to NYPD statistics. Antoni said, “Why are they punishing people who are just trying to make living in this community? Eli [Yama] was born and raised here, he is building up his community by opening his shop, and they punished him for it.”
