WEBVTT - NY's Cannabis Rollout Could Destroy a Legal Entrepreneur 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:13.600 Hello, and welcome to another episode of the All Thoughts podcast. 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:15.120 I'm Tracy Alloway. 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:15.920 And I'm Joe Wisenthal. 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:18.680 Joe, do you remember five months ago? 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:23.680 No, it's all, it's all what neither did I? 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.360 I actually had to look this up. You remember? On 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:31.200 four twenty so April twentieth of this year, we released 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:36.640 our first ever narrative All Thoughts series, all about the 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:38.840 legal marijuana market in New York. 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:43.320 Yes, and obviously that was a fun experiment and I 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.720 hope we do something like that again. My big takeaway 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.080 from that, I learned a lot about market structure. I 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:52.800 learned a lot about the industry. But my big takeaway 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:56.400 really from talking to everyone involved, are lots of people 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:00.160 involved in the New York attempt to legalize marijuana. Is that, 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:04.280 however complicated you thought it was and difficult it was 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:07.200 to sort of bring in this new market, it's like 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:09.039 infinitely more complicated than that. 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:11.560 Yeah, it can always get worse kind. 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:12.720 Of and that's another way to put it in. 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:15.720 Yeah, well it is true. You know, there was so 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.160 much excitement about this last year and then even into 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.840 early this year, and fast forward to now. I have 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:25.840 the sort of latest figures in front of me. So 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:30.160 New York signed the law that legalized cannabis possession back 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:33.199 in March of twenty twenty one. So it's been more 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:36.119 than two years and we only have like I think 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:40.240 it's about two dozen legal weed dispensaries, which I think 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:43.600 is one of the lowest, if not the lowest number 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:48.040 among all the states that have so far legalized marijuana. 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:52.920 And meanwhile, we have like more than a thousand unlicensed dealers, 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.080 which is pretty much the outcome that New York was 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:57.240 trying to avoid. 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:00.640 I mean, there's probably more than two dozen and within 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.800 a five block radius from my house in the East Village, right, Yeah. 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:06.840 And so I remember, you know, about a year ago, 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:08.679 I think the first one opened up, and it was 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.959 like there was a ten minute walk from me, and 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:14.760 you had to show some card to buy there, and 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:16.960 I don't know, And then they just kept getting more. 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.519 They're closer and closer, and they're all in all of 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:23.000 the bodegas now. And now basically, even though there's supposedly 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:25.080 all these issues with payments at the legal one, at 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:27.760 the illegal ones, you can buy them buy product with 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.679 credit cards. It really is crazy, but it stems from 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:34.800 two things, right, there was an attempt to rectify sort 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.840 of past injustices of the War on drugs by giving 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:41.520 priority to people who had been negatively impacted by the 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:45.840 drug war when marijuana was still straight up illegal in 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:49.400 New York State. And then in the meantime, this tension 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:52.120 now is like, okay, you had you have the people 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:55.880 who wanted to take the regulated, legal route, and that's complicated, 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.640 and then the people who just open up a shop 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.960 and there's been very little enforcement the absolutely. 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.799 And along the way. You know, again, it's only been 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:05.920 five months since we released this series, but there have 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:10.359 been all these different legal developments which we are about 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:12.680 to get into because I'm very pleased to say that 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.000 we really do have the perfect guests to discuss this. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:19.799 We're bringing back cos Marte and Alfredo Angera. They are 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:24.200 the CEO of Kanbud and the chief compliance officer of Kanbud. 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:28.280 You might remember them from this series. They are aiming 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:32.400 to open up their own legal weed shops, but of 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.040 course it's been far more complicated and taken a lot 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:38.840 longer than perhaps they anticipated. So Caause and Alfredo, thank 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:40.520 you so much for coming back on all thoughts. 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.440 Thank you for having us. Thank you for welcoming us back. 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.920 Why don't we start with the basics. You know, I 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.920 mentioned some of the legal issues that have taken place 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:53.360 over the summer. Why don't you just give us the 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:56.800 state of affairs as it exists right now in relation 0:03:56.920 --> 0:03:58.880 to New York's legal weed industry. 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.440 Have you ever seen that meme with the dog in 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:07.440 the room it's fine, Yeah, it's fine and everything is 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.440 on fire. That is literally the state of the industry 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:15.520 right now. And I don't mean that in any kind 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:17.040 of you know, funny contexts. 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:19.479 We just got the title of this episode, New York 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.360 City Cannabis. It's fine and everything is on fire. 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:23.640 If it's on fire. 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:26.800 So there's been to say, it's been a lot of 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.320 flux as a as a grand understatement. Last time we 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.640 were here, we had a lot of faith that the state, 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:37.240 because of their vested interest in getting the tax dollars 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.000 and in their vested interest and kind to trying to 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.720 fix the social justice and equities, we're really going to 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.440 get it right. And had the opportunity to look to 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:48.920 other states and say, well, what is it that they 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:50.680 did wrong and what is it that they did right? 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.320 And we have we can make the perfect model. We 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:58.760 have since learned that despite those best efforts, corporate interests 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:03.480 will always rule. Right when you're talking about the country's 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:07.560 largest cannabis market, and by way of that, the world's 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.440 largest cannabis market in terms of consumption, we're talking about 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:14.320 billions and billions of dollars, and the entities that are 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.560 MSOs and the entities that are ros aren't going to 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.760 sit by the wayside, essentially, and they have been throwing 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:23.799 every monkey wrench you can possibly imagine into the gears. 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:27.200 So that's currently where we stand. 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.600 So you mentioned corporate interests. Can you expand on that 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.919 a little bit more, because I remember, again from speaking 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.039 to you and lots of other people for the series, 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.560 New York's ambition was to do it a little bit 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.080 differently to other states. They wanted to create this sort 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:49.040 of vibrant, almost like craft beer market for the weed industry, 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:53.200 where you would have all these local growers and sellers 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.200 and the money would kind of be kept circulating within 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:59.760 the state. And that seems to maybe be up in 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.240 the era now or being challenged in some way. 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:07.800 Yeah. No, it's very difficult to compete with the corporate 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:12.080 greed and and I think that's the reality is. So 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:16.479 we were the injunction happened, We were sued. The state 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:21.960 was sued because they wanted the veterans to move forward first. 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.320 That that was the veterans argument that they should have 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.680 been prioritized and it was just for veterans, not all veterans, 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:32.160 but it's this service disabled veterans. Now in the case, 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:39.160 we were intervened by these corporations specific coalition for multi 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:43.279 state operators that intervened into the case to basically state 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.720 that we shouldn't be able to move forward, and they're 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:51.640 stopping the whole pathway of us opening up, you know, 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.720 because they they they want to capture as much market 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.159 share as possible in the beginning. And so that's that's 0:06:58.160 --> 0:06:58.720 what we're in. 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:01.120 Yeah, if we look at this not as cannabis, right, 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.719 let's look at it as any industry, whether it would 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.200 be alcohol or whether it be a food product and 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.360 agricultural product. And you tell Anheuser Busch that they can't 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:13.200 come into the market, you tell hormale foods that they 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:15.960 can't come into the market, You tell big tobacco that 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:17.640 they can't come in the market, because you plan on 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:19.840 doing it craft wise, you already know you're going to 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.840 be setting yourself up for a variety of legal challenges, 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:25.560 which is where we're at. I think Costs touched upon 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:29.520 some of the cases which we are currently involved in, 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:33.200 which were submitted to the court. The first case was 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:37.040 an Article seventy eight proceeding that was led by the ROS. 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:40.120 And Article seventy eight proceeding is a proceeding by which 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:44.560 that you challenge an agencies authority. You question an agency's 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:46.840 authority if it was like the DMV or something like that, 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.440 and you want to challenge that, you file an Article 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:53.320 seventy eight. That was what the ROS had filed initially. 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.560 Sorry ROS Sansori Registered organization. 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:57.600 Okay, yeah, I'm sorry. 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.640 No, no, no, those medical operators. 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.280 So if I could just just to step back and 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:07.160 clarify a couple quick things. You're opening this store or 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:11.040 attempting to open up this location, Conbud, you were granted 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:14.600 the license in part because out of the social justice 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.840 or social equity efforts of the law cost you had 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.600 served time in prison and so you were, you know, 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.520 in this attempt to sort of reverse some of the 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:26.560 effects of the War on drugs. You were, I guess 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.560 granted one of the early license licenses to open this 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:34.439 just real quickly, when was that a very initial grant made? 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.840 So they gave us our license early April? Okay? 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.079 And then real quickly, when were you hoping to have 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:41.040 the store away? 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:43.120 We were looking to open up on Labor Day? 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:49.080 Okay. Now talk specifically about the Article seventy eight proceedings. 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:51.560 So there's two separate ones. There was one from a 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:54.800 veterans group and one from the MSOs. Can you just 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:59.040 talk about specifically what these new legal roadblocks are such 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.920 that we're here in Octoe and the store hasn't opened up. 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:04.920 Oh fraid? Oh yeah. 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:07.840 So the ROS filed the Article seventy eight to basically 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.000 stay that they wanted the market opened so that the 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:15.760 registered organizations, who are these medical entities who are allowed 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:20.160 to open up bigger places and more places than other licensees, 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:23.680 that they should be allowed to open up immediately. And 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.920 they're challenging OCM. So that was an Article seventy eight 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:30.280 that was going through Cannabis Manager, yes, Office of Cannabis 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.760 Management that so they challenged that in the courts, and 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:39.640 they challenged OCM. Then shortly after that, plaintiffs in the 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.760 case uh and we're involved in litigation, so I would 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:44.480 just like to prefer to just refer to them as 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:46.400 plaintiff and not individually. 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:50.680 But to cut not to cut you off. Originally, the 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:54.120 law was written for justice involved individuals to be the 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.800 first ones in the game, and so the medical operators 0:09:57.840 --> 0:09:59.800 they were pushed back for three years. 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:00.280 Now. 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.400 When they put this article seventy eight, the OCM, the 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:07.079 Office of Cannabis Management responded and said, all right, we're 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:10.360 going to allow you to move forward by a year now, 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:14.560 which means December thirtieth. They were allowed to open up now. 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:16.600 All they had to wait was a couple more months. 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:21.760 And you know, due to wanting to capture the market 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.600 as much as they can, they're pushing everything back and 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:28.360 they're saying it's not fair, we want to open up now. 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:34.000 And plaintiff's argument who's involved in the case. The attorneys 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:38.640 represent some service disabled veterans. Their argument is that the MRTA, 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.560 which is the law that passed cannabis in New York, 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:45.080 that the MRTA states that all applicants will be allowed 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.640 to open at the same time, with certain preferences given 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:51.400 to subgroups. So their challenge is that the entire card 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:56.480 program which is the conditional adult recreational dispensary licenses that 0:10:56.559 --> 0:11:00.480 were given to social justice equity individuals. That entire licensed 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:05.160 subcategory is unconstitutional and therefore they should all be pulled. 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.000 And that's why they requested an injunction, and it froze 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.160 all the card applicants, got it. Now, that puts that 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.959 creates a variety of issues. Right one, there are certain 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.880 applicants who've already received their license and who are already 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:21.600 opened in operational. Now we're talking about me taking away 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:26.480 a property of yours. You have something, and the removal 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:30.440 of that is a totally different legal procedure. Right That's 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.760 like a Fourteenth Amendment kind of thing. Right now, absent that, 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:37.520 there are also other individuals who are within that bucket 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.400 who maybe haven't opened up and maybe haven't been processing 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:45.320 sales yet, but have an irreparable harm. And what do 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:48.480 I mean by that is they detrimentally relied upon the 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:51.600 state saying, hey, you're good, you can continue to move forward. 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:55.240 Enter into these contractual agreements, enter into this lease agreement, 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:58.360 enter into this purchasing agreement, enter into the staffing agreement. 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.679 And then now it's hey, wait, everybody has a freeze well, 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.600 where we have debts of mounting over five million dollars 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:07.960 or you know, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.040 whatever it is. Now there's this entire other group of 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:14.320 individuals who find themselves behind the eight ball. And it's 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:19.520 really weird because that particular group, the social justice impacted individuals, 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:23.600 the individuals who were over policed, over targeted, and came 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:27.640 from these disproportional areas now beg barrowed and stealed and 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:29.640 took all that money that they could from their family, 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.400 their friend, their fur one k scraped everything together to 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.280 open up this business, did the application, follow the guidelines, 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.400 did everything that you told them to do, and now 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:41.760 they're left holding the bag. It's it's almost like insult 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:46.640 to injury, and it's there. It's like almost all over again. 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:50.760 This whole thing is happening and they're being further impacted, 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.360 and it's like this kind of a second war on 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.640 drugs that is just going through a legal proceeding as 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.199 opposed to on the streets. 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.120 So you have the injunction from the veterans group who 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:18.280 think that they should also receive priority. You have the 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.720 multi state operators who also want to get into the market. 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:24.040 Can I ask a really simple question, which is how 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.920 much money have you guys spent so far on a 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:28.720 business which isn't yet open. 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.400 We've spent definitely over a million dollars. 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:33.400 Wow. 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:38.000 Ye, And that that was all self funded and came 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:42.199 from our personal businesses. I know that, you know, most 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:45.040 card applicants don't even have those resources. We are blessed 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.320 enough that my business partner, Junior, and I own and 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:52.760 operate several restaurants, costs, owns and operates a very successful 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:56.360 gym business. You know, the money that we put into 0:13:56.440 --> 0:14:00.960 this particular venture came at the sacrifice of our other businesses. 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.440 You know, so we've we've given all that we could 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:04.679 to this. 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.840 Are you currently paying rent month to month on a 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:10.200 location that's just sitting there unused? 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:14.800 October first rent was just paid and that was for 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:16.640 thirty eight thousand dollars. 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:19.240 So every month you're just it's thirty eight thousand out 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:19.640 the door. 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:22.960 How tempted are you at this point to just go 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.960 rent a van and like park it in Washington Square 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:27.240 Park like everyone else seems to. 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:30.280 Yeah, I mean, you know, I contemplated that, and it's 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:34.040 like I'd rather still state work instead of block work, 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.880 just because I've waited for so long, you know, I mean, 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.920 I've been advocating for legalization of cannabis since twenty sixteen 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:46.160 and still wait, you know, still waiting and going and 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:49.760 feeling like every milestone we've reached was a success. I 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:53.480 think we celebrated alf Raido and I probably about five 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.280 celebrations every time we went to court, yeah, or even 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.680 got a license or even got into the next step 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:03.920 so far, application being graded, is submitted and everything. So 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:09.360 it's been dreams of nightmares for real, Okay. 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:12.720 And how much responsibility do you think the State of 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:16.080 New York bears in all of this, because on the 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.720 one hand, you know, they made promises saying that this 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:24.400 was going to be a social restitution exercise compensation for 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:26.520 the War on drugs and things like that. But on 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.560 the other hand, you know, if the veterans want to 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.160 challenge the legality of that, it seems like maybe that's 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.960 outside of New York's control. I guess another way of 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.080 asking this is what could they be doing better? 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:43.720 They could They could have codified card so the conditional 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:48.240 adult use Retail dispensary license could have been codified into law. 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:52.400 I actually went up and spoke to legislators months ago 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:55.480 about codifying Card and they were like, no, the law 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.800 is fine. We don't need to rectify anything. And so 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:03.920 you know, come today. You know, in August the injunction 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:08.360 was placed, and you know, now we're like, oh, we 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:12.200 should have codified Card and this would never happen, and 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:14.520 we'reritten this into law. But it didn't. 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:18.960 And here were the state could I mean, the state 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:21.320 is dealing with a lot right now. Right where does 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:25.320 this fall on their hierarchy of issues? We have asylum 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:29.280 seekers sleeping in the streets. The city is inundated by 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.280 hundreds of thousands of individuals looking to get their slice 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:35.680 of the American dream, housing costs or through the roof 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:37.080 for certain individuals. 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:37.720 You know, we. 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:40.920 Still have a budget that is busted still as a 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:43.440 result of COVID. We can you know, on my way 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.320 here to the studio, we can see the streets in 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:47.400 New York are nowhere near what they used to be 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.680 four years ago. We have really mounting problems here. So 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:52.680 where does this fall on the hierarchy of the state. 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:57.680 Sure Card applicants who faced a large hill of social 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:02.160 injustice are involved. Sure, farmers upstate are involved. Sure there's 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:06.040 an illicit market running rampant, but the state, like that 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.880 meme has fires all over the house. Right, So where 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.359 what could they have done? Yes, Coss is a million 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.040 percent correct. They could have codified it, and they didn't. 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.320 So that would have required a special session. And to 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:19.960 call a special session to come in to do this 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:22.399 is not going to happen, right, So it would have 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.040 had to be a multiple things tied into that bill. 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.000 Why didn't they codify it in the first place? Right, 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:30.640 you didn't ask it, But that's a great question. It's 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:35.040 because there wasn't an appetite for it initially, and then 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:37.560 they didn't feel like it needed to be because they 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:40.480 felt the bill covered it. What do I mean by that? 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.920 I mean, if Congress passes a tax law and says, okay, 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:46.080 this is going to be the corporate tax rate. They 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:48.560 don't go to the irs and say, okay, bring us 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.080 all the tax codes. We're going to go over this 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.720 line by line with you. Congress gives kind of this 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.440 broad mandate to these agencies, the same way it would 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:59.640 be to the EPA or to a variety of other agencies. 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:01.439 They say this is the goal we want you to 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:03.840 get to. How you decide to get to that goal 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:06.960 is upon the agency's discretion. We don't need to know 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.159 the parts per milli leter of something in water that 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:12.800 you find safe, or we don't need to know you know, 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.440 what the exact deductions are. We're not going to vote 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:17.639 on every single item. We're just going to give you 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.359 the mandate. And the mandate was given to the Office 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:25.520 of Cannabis Management to fulfill this social justice equity component. 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.240 And how the Office of Cannabis Management found the best 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:32.119 way to do that was through this card program. 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:35.240 So you know, let me ask you the other element. 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:38.480 You're paying all this money, you're dealing with these legal 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.320 headaches that you didn't anticipate. The other thing that we 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:43.760 were talking about a lot when we had our conversation 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:46.800 in April was the existence of all these sort of 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:51.720 gray market, non licensed operators. And you know, we're sort 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:53.800 of premised on this idea that maybe there would be 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:55.960 a crackdown. Not only does there not seem to have 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.200 been a crackdown, it seems like there are way more 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:01.240 than there were in April, and nicer ones. 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:04.000 So it's not just wait, wait, wait a lot of 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:05.000 the trucks are gone. 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:05.480 The truck. 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:08.280 You have to admit that there are more stores. It 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.160 feels like more like brick and mortar shops. 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:12.440 Yeah, I see fewer trucks. I see way more brick 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:16.080 and mortar shops. I see nice brick and mortar shops. 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:18.360 So like actually ones that were clearly not just sort 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.400 of a bodega type environment, but like something that really 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.360 looks like an Apple store or a Nike store. All 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:27.840 these entities somehow allow you to pay with a credit 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.560 card or some sort What is your confidence at this 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:35.240 point that, whether it's the city or the state, has 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:39.080 some sort of way to I guess make sure that 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:41.720 people who are not going down the licensed route won't 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:42.520 be your competitors. 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.000 I think we need to educate the public, you know, 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:49.040 more more forms like this, more forms that you know, 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.359 the media puts out in terms of what is a 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:56.920 legal store, that there is a lot of issues with 0:19:57.080 --> 0:20:00.320 these nice stores being popped up everywhere and you walk 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:02.120 in and you're like, oh wow, these people got their 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:06.240 licenses beautiful in here. So the general public doesn't even know, 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:09.560 you know. And I think the more we put out there, 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:12.480 the more ads, the more marketing that the state could do. 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:15.680 You know, we could educate the audience. But right now 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:18.879 it's going to be difficult. You know, I have in 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:22.639 a thousand foot radius, there's you know, probably fifty to 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:27.480 sixty shops around me, and there's not supposed to be one. 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.000 We're supposed to be the only one, you know, and 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.480 so it's it's going to be difficult. But I think 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:37.680 we planted ourselves in the right neighborhood. I'm born and 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:40.320 raised in the Lower East Side and I'm a local 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:43.520 business owner there and a lot a lot of people 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:46.440 know me. A lot of people are anticipating our opening. 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:50.040 We've been able to really educate it through word of mouth, 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:55.240 at which the state hasn't really done successfully. But we'll see. 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:58.280 I'd rather spend a million dollars on a legal store 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:01.560 than an illegal store and then be shut down right 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:04.080 and have that, you know, open air. 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:06.639 I remember talking to someone from the state and they 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:09.280 were making a similar argument, like, if you build the 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:12.440 legal wed bodega, they will come, like the public will 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:15.879 eventually have a preference for legal shops. But I guess 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:21.159 Devil's advocate question here. The longer this uncertainty goes on, 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:24.840 and the longer that you have these illegal or gray 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:30.080 market stores, does do people get used to that option? Because, 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:33.120 like I can tell you, up until very recently, there 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:35.800 was a truck parked relatively close to me, and it 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:39.119 was fairly easy to go there, and they had stuff 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:43.160 from California that theoretically I might enjoy. If my dad 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:45.240 is listening to this, I never went to the weed truck, 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:48.480 but you know, like I got used to it being there. 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:51.879 It had the same offerings every day. It seemed pretty professional. 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:54.920 It took credit cards. That was a pretty good option. 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:58.800 But we got to re educate on what you're using. 0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:02.320 You know, you don't know what this is. They found 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:04.040