Sometimes, government bureaucracies function inefficiently because they’re too settled in their ways. Other times, they have difficulties getting off the ground because they’re trying to do something entirely new and untested. The latter seems to be the case with the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), tasked with the issuance of cannabis dispensary permits in New York State under the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act of March 2021. That rollout has been taking much longer than originally projected, and Courtney Beaupre, owner of Honey’s Cannabis CBD and Accessories in Gardiner, is one of the young entrepreneurs who has been patiently awaiting her chance to commence selling products containing recreational levels of THC.
The last time we checked in with Beaupre, 11 months ago (https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2022/12/04/honeys-cannabis-cbd-in-gardiner-poised-for-dispensary-license), she’d had her CBD business up and running for four months in the space that formerly housed Lightsey Cycles, behind Pasquale’s Pizzeria on Main Street. While dispensaries were already beginning to open their doors in most parts of the state, permits were being held up in the Hudson Valley, awaiting resolution of a lawsuit by a Michigan-based cannabis distributor challenging the new law’s preferential treatment of New York-based businesses. Thus, Beaupre and other local would-be retailers were shut out of the early rounds of eligibility. She was poised to submit her application in February or March of 2023, with hopes of Honey’s becoming a full-fledged dispensary by summertime.
It didn’t quite work out that way. The OCM “just didn’t get it together,” Beaupre reports. “There were multiple lawsuits, including one in the summer that brought everything to a screeching halt. And there were so many so close to opening.”
What that means is that Beaupre – a licensed mental health counselor with Gateway Hudson Valley – has had to carry a lease on prime retail space in the middle of the Gardiner hamlet for well over a year now, home to a business that doesn’t generate nearly as much cash flow as recreational cannabis sales would. That financial risk will help propel her application to near the top of the list, however, along with Honey’s classification as a woman-owned business. “Because we have a location identified, we’re getting an earlier start.”
Beaupre was finally able to file the first section of her application on October 4 – on short notice, sending it electronically from her laptop while flying off on a long-planned trip to Spain. The second section, full disclosure forms from all True Parties of Interest in the business, comes due on November 18. “We’re supposed to get notification about a month after,” she said.
It’s clear by now that any Hudson Valley businessperson wanting to get into on-site cannabis sales has to be in it for the long haul, and Beaupre isn’t taking anything for granted. Last weekend, Honey’s hosted its first Open House and Cannabis Growers’ Showcase, to be continued on a weekly basis until at least the end of 2023, and possibly for as long as six months, according to the proprietor. “This is a really good dry run. It’s less responsibility for me,” Beaupre said as the first day of the Grand Opening wound to a close.
This past July, the OCM adopted a Cannabis Grower Showcase Initiative that allows hemp farmers to partner with licensed retailers to hold pop-up recreational cannabis sales events at such venues as farmers’ markets. Two local licensed retailers, Legacy Dispensers and High Falls Canna, are the go-betweens who can legally host growers’ showcases such as the one that has just been launched at Honey’s. Actual THC products are sold on the premises, with proceeds of sales going directly to the farmers, offering a foretaste of what will eventually be available after Honey’s gets its dispensary license and redesigns its space for enhanced security.
The cannabis producers participating in the showcase opening weekend were all based in New York State, and nearly all in the Hudson Valley. They included High Falls Canna and Back Home Farms from High Falls, Supernaturals from Accord, Platinum Reserve and Bannerman’s Batch from Poughkeepsie, Nowave from Rochester, Hepworth-Pura from Highland and Juniper Jill from Hoosick Falls. Edibles from Lagusta’s Luscious chocolatiers in New Paltz were marketed under the label of Soft Power Sweets.
The products came in a bewildering variety of forms, weights and “delivery systems,” from loose flowers and single pre-rolled joints to “weed water,” gummies and vape cartridges. Displays ranged from informal stacks of product boxes to brightly lit buds, glistening with resin under magnifying lenses. Menus were available for the different strains of weed, sometimes classifying their effects with such terms as Euphoric/Uplifting, Creative/Playful or Calm/Relaxed, as well as describing their flavor profiles in terms as sophisticated as those used by oenophiles.
Brian Casey, proprietor with his wife Geralyn Kohut of High Falls Canna, was on hand to translate the terminology of modern cannabis merchandising to newbies (or older folks who learned about pot back when its production and delivery were comparatively low-tech). For example, most of the product lines were labeled to identify whether they contained Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica or some hybrid. How do you know which one is best for your needs?
It turns out that the presence and type of chemical compounds called terpines are the main distinction between the two varieties. “The old saying about indica is that sounds like ‘in da couch.’ It relaxes you. People use it if they have trouble falling asleep,” Casey explained. “Sativa makes you creative; it’s more stimulating. It’s better to take it in the daytime.”
Casey also had high praise for Honey’s as a safe and sane destination for obtaining one’s recreational cannabis. He noted that, unlike some dispensaries that hire teenage staff who might be inclined simply to recommend the strongest variety in stock to any customer, Beaupre and her crew of “budtenders” are knowledgeable, discriminating and wellness-oriented. “They’re professionals here,” he said. “They take a medicinal, holistic approach.”
For the foreseeable future, the Cannabis Growers’ Showcase at Honey’s Cannabis CBD and Accessories will be open from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. A wide variety of CBD products are also still available for sale. The shop is located at 133 Main Street (Route 44/55) in downtown Gardiner; enter through the Pasquale’s parking lot, or from Farmers’ Turnpike in the rear. For more information, call (845) 382-9127, e-mail honeyscannabis@gmail.com or visit www.honeyscannabis.com or https://m.facebook.com/honeyscbd.
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