Why is New York Lagging Behind in Legal Marijuana Sales?

MetroFocus: The Podcast

Housing Works, the first recreational marijuana dispensary to open in New York, recently reported that in their first six months of operation they sold $12 million dollars’ worth of marijuana products, doubling their initial sales projections. Though this particular dispensary has been successful, the rest of the state has lagged behind. Housing Works’ sales represent over one third of the $33.4 million dollars that the entire New York State legal recreational marijuana industry generated in that same time period. As a whole, New York’s sales numbers pale in comparison to other states, such as New Jersey, which generated $24 million dollars in marijuana sales in their first month alone. Tonight, Mona Zhang, states cannabis policy reporter for Politico, and Jeremy Berke, the founder of Cultivated, a newsletter focused on the cannabis industry, join MetroFocus to discuss why New York is lagging in sales behind neighboring states, where the tax money generated from legal marijuana is going, and why there are so many illegal cannabis stores still open throughout New York City.