ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Five years since the legalization of recreational marijuana in New York state, business owners and growers are still struggling and navigating their way through the complicated legal status and policies surrounding the cannabis industry.

What You Need To Know

  • It’s a new green rush after years of fighting for legal marijuana and small business support

  • Five years since the legalization of recreational marijauana in New York state, business owners and growers are still struggling and navigating their way through the complicated legal status and policies surrounding the cannabis industry

  • Business owners are finally celebrating a new milestone and bringing micro businesses to the forefront

It has been a long road for business owners like Felix Harris.

“I was a smuggler out of California for a long time,” Harris, the owner of 6 Point Cannabis, said. “[I] moved here to raise my family before legalization happened. We are a micro business license, which means we are vertically integrated. We grow and sell, same thing. And we have a dispensary in downtown Rochester.”

He’s finding himself in a “hemp loophole,” like many others. Every state has different regulations, product limits and tax codes.

“Money is a huge challenge,” Harris said. “Just a half off the application is hilarious and there’s so many other things you gotta take care of. A lot of regulations that you have to be ready for before you even get your foot in the door. New York has always been the highest consumer, even when things were completely illegal. New York loves really good cannabis. Unfortunately, it’s a lot of mid-grade out here that we need to up the quality a bit because the people want it now. People are starting to wake up in the New York market. It’s growing in education and just learning about the plant and the different varieties are available.”

For New York state, cannabis retailers are just finally celebrating their first state-wide cannabis showcase.

“This is the first licensed cannabis grower showcase under their new set of regulations,” Evergreen Retail owner Karen Tobin said. “We have 12 licensed cultivators across the country. Mostly micro-businesses craft. Mom and farm. They’re getting an opportunity to meet with the consumers face-to-face. So it’s a pretty historic event, and we’re really excited about it. We are highlighting the Finger Lakes region, and it’s always a waiting game to get there. Once we get the rules, we’re able to facilitate them. There’s a lot of tenacity under this tent. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have that.”

Hosted at Lincoln Farms, its event curators wanted to make sure to have its micro-businesses at the forefront.

“We aren’t, you know, a huge corporation with a boardroom full of investors with out of state money,” Sunwalker Farms owner Curt Boshnack said. “We’re the small mom and pop farms that are holding down. And we hope you enjoy quality over quantity. That’s what we do. Not a lot of people know what the micro business, you know, business licenses are or just a small batch growers are. So this is huge for us to educate people on what we do on a small scale.”

“Mom and pop businesses in any industry have an uphill battle,” Tobin said. “This one even more so because of the burden and the compliance burdens and costs associated with that. But on the flip side, they have some of the best products in the state, that you can get on a large scale. So to provide them that opportunity that they normally wouldn’t be able to have is what makes sense.”

It’s putting a mark on the map for New York cultivators and processors.

“These people have given everything mortgage their homes, and it is not like a lucrative thing for a lot of these companies,” Harris said. “It’s really hard. It’s like a regular job, but we’re doing what we love because we love this plant and we fight for it to get to this place. My farm is in Bloomfield, New York. It’s a lot of fire coming out of Bloomfield. Not just mine and surrounding area. We’re here for you. We are you. You know more people than you can imagine. Indulge in cannabis of all kinds. I’ve seen every walk of life, so it’s right here. And we want to keep providing it.”

Receiving approval from its local municipality, the location anticipates making this event annually.

“You got to get growers and processors into that one cultivator, one processor, minimum, and then retail to host,” Boshnack said. “And then you’re applying for a cannabis event, permit or license. And then once that’s approved, it’s all systems go.”

“There’s a lot more opportunity for individuals, municipalities, for sure,” Tobin said. “I think 50% of the state roughly is still opted out of cannabis retail sales. That might start to change as we continue to facilitate events like this and have it become normalized.”

“Just like if you go to any roadside stand by vegetables, you go to the local winery, you go to the local brewery,” Boshnack said. “Those are small teams, small businesses. And that’s what you have here today.”