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SCHENECTADY — Two years after state lawmakers legalized marijuana for adult use, the Electric City will see its first cannabis sales at a Union Street dispensary next month.
Donald Andrews, who received one of the first dispensary licenses in the state last September, said this week he is poised to be the first in the Capital Region to begin retail marijuana sales after receiving his final state approvals last month. He is in the process of converting his CBD store front at 1613 Union St. into the Upstate Canna Co. dispensary, with plans to hold a ceremonial soft opening on March 31 that will include appearances by state officials before beginning retail operations the following day.
“We’re ready to go,” he said. “It’s been a long process, but we’re moving forward with everything.”
Andrews, who also owns Upstate CBD in Glenville and VapedCity Smokeshop in Scotia, received a dispensary license as part of the state’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries program, which gives stakeholders convicted of past marijuana-related offenses the first opportunity to join the state’s recreational marijuana market. Andrews, 34, was convicted of two marijuana-related offenses in the last 2000s.
The state’s Office of Cannabis Management, which regulates the marijuana industry, did not immediately return a request seeking comment.
A 2007 Schenectady High School graduate, Andrews first opened his Scotia vape shop in 2013 and expanded into the CBD business with locations in Schenectady and Glenville a few years later. He has wanted to open a dispensary for years and has traveled to other states where cannabis was legalized previously to learn more about how retail operations work.
Retail marijuana sales in the state began late last year in New York City after state lawmakers approved the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act in 2021, which legalized marijuana for adults 21 and over and established a regulatory framework for legal sales moving forward.
The law also expunged the records of those with past marijuana convictions and created an equity program using tax dollars from cannabis sales to fund education, treatment programs and grants for communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
Sales have since started in Binghamton and at several other locations in New York City, with additional dispensaries expected to come online as the year progresses.
The state’s Office of Cannabis Management awarded dozens of CAURD licenses to date, including seven in the Capital Region and initially had plans to award up to 150 such licenses. Regulators earlier this month doubled that number in order to meet the high demand for the licenses, with the Capital Region expected to receive 14.
Andrews, who said he has permission to operate up to three dispensaries under his license, is hoping to convert his Glenville storefront at 126 Saratoga Road (Route 50) into a cannabis dispensary, and has been working with the town to develop a local ordinance to regulate marijuana-related businesses as lawmakers there consider allowing sales after opting out two years ago.
He’s hoping to open a third location somewhere in Schenectady County, though those plans are still in the works. His Scotia storefront is located too close to a church to operate a dispensary there, he said.
“I’m from the city of Schenectady, so opening up the Union Street location is huge because that tax revenue is going to go right back to the city,” Andrews said.
Mayor Gary McCarthy did not immediately return a request seeking comment Thursday.
Andrews said he has been working to beef up staffing and currently has about 12 employees who will make deliveries, process online orders and assist customers. He’s planning to launch a website next week that will allow customers to schedule appointments and place pick-up and delivery orders, but noted walk-in customers will also be welcomed.
“There will probably be a line,” he said.
Schenectady lawmakers were on track to opt-out of allowing marijuana sales two years ago, but reversed course just days before the deadline. Nearby Niskayuna, Glenville and Clifton Park all moved to prohibit cannabis businesses from opening in town, but have the option to opt back in later.
Rotterdam, which allowed sales, adopted a zoning ordinance last year to regulate the businesses, though no dispensaries have submitted plans to operate in the town at this time.
Andrews praised the city for working with him to open the dispensary and credited the state for assisting those with past convictions an opportunity to start fresh.
“It feels good,” he said. “It’s been a long, long process getting to where we’re at now, but we finally have all of our stuff. Everything’s done.”
Contact reporter Chad Arnold at: [email protected] or by calling 518-395-3120.
Categories: News, News, Schenectady, Schenectady County
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