Who Needs a License? New York Weed Dispensaries Are Already Opening

Stores that offer recreational marijuana might not be entirely legal yet, but entrepreneurs are ready to start righting the wrongs of the war on drugs

list prices, per se, but “Suggested Donations,” starting at $20. The packages offered in return are thank you “gifts.”

“We don’t sell anything,” says one register operator at Uncle Budd’s weed truck, speaking under a condition of anonymity. “Every donation is going back into the community.”

Uncle Budd’s, he says, organizes charitable events, like Thanksgiving turkey giveaways. Another goal is to educate people in the neighborhood about the health benefits of marijuana consumption. But the most vital community service that the Black-owned business provides, according to the cashier, is the employment of local residents. There are two Uncle Budd’s trucks so far, and more on the way. Their owner is hiring 10 people every two weeks, the worker says, with a priority on individuals like himself who have been arrested for drug-dealing offenses in the past.

“Now that it’s turning legal, we’re trying to do it the correct way,” he says on behalf of the growing company.

But the state’s new governing bodies in charge of cannabis rules and regulations say the exchanges at Uncle Budd’s, as well as other outlets across New York that are challenging the definition of “sale” with various transactional twists, are not the “correct way” to distribute marijuana. They certainly aren’t lawful — yet. [Read More @ Rolling Stone]