According to the Associated Press and other American media reports on December 29 local time, the first legal marijuana store in New York opened in lower Manhattan on the same day, and its business was very hot. It received 500 people in a short time, sold out in less than three hours, and closed.
According to the report, the store was opened in the East Village of Lower Manhattan in New York City, adjacent to New York University, and operated by an organization called "Housing Works". The organization is a non-profit organization that aims to provide help to the homeless and AIDS patients.

Last month, the New York State Cannabis Administration Office issued the first batch of 36 marijuana retail licenses to operators with a criminal record of marijuana, as well as some non-profit organizations that provide help services for drug addicts. "Housing Project" is one of them.

After the New York State legalized the use of marijuana in March 2021, the state government received many applications to open marijuana retail stores. At present, there are 139 waiting in line for business licenses, and 900 applicants are still waiting for news.

In November this year, the State of New York issued the first batch of marijuana retail licenses, which will all be issued to operators with a criminal record of marijuana. A spokesman for the New York State Cannabis Control Commission said, "We will try to include those affected by the (previous) New York Cannabis ban into the new market under construction and make the cannabis supply chain in New York fully operational."

According to the New York Post, the store opened at 4:20 on Thursday afternoon local time. At this time, a large number of "hemp lovers" had gathered at the door. A group of eager smokers lined up, looking forward to buying marijuana legally for the first time.
On the morning of the 29th, the opening ceremony of the cannabis store was held, with the presence of Chris Alexander, Executive Director of the New York State Cannabis Office, and Carlina Rivera, a New York City senator.
"We have done a lot of work to get to this point. We still have a lot of work to do, and there are many stores to open." Alexander said that he claimed that the legal cannabis retail store was to repair the damage caused by the government's previous ban on cannabis policy. "The vast majority of people imprisoned for holding and selling cannabis are black and Latino, which is no accident."

City councilor Rivera also bought marijuana gums and said that marijuana retail stores would create more jobs, which would be beneficial to the economic development of New York.

Charles King, CEO of "Housing Engineering", said that the income of cannabis retail stores would provide funds for other projects of the organization.
"This is a perfect location. We are between the West Village and the East Village of New York." Jin expressed satisfaction with the location of the store at the opening ceremony. "It is also easy for tourists to come here, so I think we will achieve huge sales here."
As Jin expected, the store didn't open until 4:20 p.m., but there was a long queue at noon. By 3:00 p.m., the queue for buying marijuana had reached hundreds of meters long, spanning several blocks.
After the official opening, the goods in the store were sold out in less than 3 hours, and the manager of the store had to close the business just after 7 o'clock. At that time, there were still hundreds of customers waiting in line outside the store, some of whom had even queued for more than four hours.
Britt Buchner, the assistant manager of the store, said that they had received nearly 500 people in a short time. They provide customers with a variety of hemp products, from hemp cigarettes to tetrahydrocannabinol electronic cigarette packs to soft candy foods. The prices of these cannabis products range from $16 to $95, and the store only accepts cash.
Kenneth Woodin was the first person in the queue leader of the hemp shop. After waiting for four hours, he finally entered the shop and bought two bags of 1/8 ounce edible Fried Dough Twists, which cost about $90 in total.
"I don't want to feel like a criminal anymore," said Wu Ding, who was arrested by the police for smoking marijuana before, so he came to the legal marijuana retail store to buy marijuana today.
The store was forced to close at 7 p.m., at which time about 150 people were waiting outside, and they were told to "come back on Friday".
Buchner is very satisfied with the success of the store. For this reason, they hired 14 employees, and the number is expected to increase. She said, "It's nice to see everyone's smiling faces, full of energy and excitement." Buchner said that it is safer to buy marijuana in the store because everything has been tested. "You know what is in your product".

With regard to the high price of cannabis products sold in the first cannabis store in the United States, Charles King, CEO of the "Housing Engineering" organization, said that it was because of the high tax collected by the government. According to the New York Times, after the legalization of cannabis retail in the United States, the industry is expected to generate $4 billion in revenue in the next five years.

New York State believes that legalization of marijuana can not only increase financial revenue, but also make marijuana users "safer". Compared with the past, the hemp trade was often completed in the dark alley. Now the government can strengthen the supervision of the hemp shops.
Previously, cannabis was the most commonly used federal illicit drug in the United States. In 1996, California was the first state in the United States to legalize medical marijuana. At present, 39 states in the United States and Washington, D.C. have enacted laws on the legalization of medical marijuana, of which 21 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes.