TROY. N.Y. — Following the settlement of two cases and a lifted injunction on Dec. 1, a new adult-use marijuana dispensary opened in Troy Thursday in Brunswick Sqaure .
“It was a struggle to get here,” said co-owner Renee Lindo, “but we made it through.”
Lindo co-owns 420 Bliss with Al Attoh and Gregg Little. All three of them have been friends for years, she said, and all have a background with and care for Troy and the surrounding community.
It’s been about a year-long process for them, she said, as they jumped on the opportunity fairly quickly. But with the injunction filed in August, their soft launch opening party wasn’t until Thursday night.
Two parties filed lawsuits this summer: a coalition of medical marijuana companies; and a group of veterans who filed a discriminatory suit about the rollout of cannabis licenses. Both questioned New York rules that those with previous drug convictions be granted the licenses first.
Because of the suits, New York State Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bryant halted the processing and granting of any new licenses in the state. The state settled the suits the last week of November and the injunction was lifted soon after.
420 Bliss was one of two dispensaries that opened this week with support from the New York Cannabis Social Equity Investment Fund, a program within the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) that helps provide opportunities for people impacted by inequitable enforcement of cannabis laws. The other, Capital District Cannabis and Wellness in Albany, opened Friday, at 997 Central Ave.
The two hardest assets any new business needs to open, said DASNY Communications Director Jeffrey Gordon, are capital and a storefront, and this fund helps secure those. Both Lindo and Gordon remarked on the prime location for the dispensary, in the plaza next door to the Walmart on Hoosick Road, at 740 Hoosick St.
With the traffic that passes the area, Gordon said he wouldn’t be surprised if there were lines out the door as the business settles in. And indeed, they have a rope set up outside that points to them expecting that level of customers.
“We’re trying to build just something generational for our children, for the future,” Lindo said. “We’re just glad to be starting up at the beginning of it.”
They wanted to provide a way for people to enjoy safely, Lindo said. With the injunction stalling out the process for a few months, the black market growing and selling grew with Gov. Hochul announcing a new crackdown on illegal shops in October.
The illegal products may also be untested, the opposite of 420 Bliss’s inventory. Lindo said all their products are fully tested, and people can enjoy them without worrying about potentially dangerous mix-ins that illegal products may have.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is easy to illegally replicate and often concealed in other products, is the number one cause of death for people aged 18 to 44, according to the White House. Legal dispensaries can help mitigate the illegal products with dangerous or unknown ingredients mixed in.
And on top of the added safety of the dispensary’s products, Lindo said they also just want people to enjoy and get the experience they want. A full list of their products will be on their website shortly, but in the shop Thursday there was everything from gummies to infused seltzers.
“420 is the code,” Lindo said with a laugh about the name, “but Bliss, just the feeling we want you to feel.”
A point Gordon emphasized at the opening night celebration was how it is very literally a business just like any other. If you take away the buzzwords surrounding the product and the ID check at the door, it is just a business run by owners who care about their community.
“It was such a long road,” Lindo said, “to be able to get the chance to do it legally, to do it the right way and to give the community a safe product. We’re just very happy.”
“Bring people together (and) have fun in a safe way,” she continued. “I can’t wait to see where this takes us.”
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