Capstones
Graduation Date
Fall 12-16-2022
Grading Professor
Greg David
Subject Concentration
Business & Economics
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Abstract
Almost a year-and-a-half after New York legalized recreational marijuana, state officials and other industry insiders praise what they view as the country's most socially equitable cannabis industry. But as New York prepares to launch its legal retail dispensary program, rollout details remain murky. The state also faces challenges with the legal industry’s most significant obstacle: illicit sales. If the state doesn’t deliver an equitable and robust market, New York risks winding up with a sputtering legal industry that could cause harm to the very people and communities it intends to lift up.
Recommended Citation
Mannino, Trina, "New York set high sights on a progressive retail weed industry. But the state now stands to fall short." (2022). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/589
Entrepreneur Jessica Naissant's journey in cannabis
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Cannabis farmers are gearing up for the opening of New York State’s retail weed market. But some growers are already facing some challenges.
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Jessica Naissant, a hopeful conditional retail dispensary licensee, visits a Brooklyn CBD store to network with the New York cannabis community and for market research. Photo: Jimmie McKinney, Sept. 2022, Brooklyn
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Jessica Naissant, 28, is one of 903 people who applied for New York’s first round of retail cannabis dispensary licenses in September. She stands in front of her home in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, where three generations of her family have resided since emigrating from Haiti. Photo: Jimmie McKinney, Sept. 2022, Brooklyn
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Coss Marte leads a class at CONBODY, a fitness boot camp, where he’s hired over 50 formerly convicted people. Marte hopes to be awarded a conditional retail dispensary license in Manhattan. Photo: Jimmie McKinney, fall 2022, New York
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An assortment of cannabis products on display in a Brooklyn shop. "As prevalent as the illicit market is in New York State, we know and understand that we have to move forward with the legal-regulated market even before the illicit market stops,” says Tremaine Wright, chairwoman of the New York State Cannabis Control Board. Photo: Jimmie McKinney, Sept. 2022, Brooklyn