When the war on marijuana came sweeping through his New York City housing project decades ago, Roland Conner found himself going in and out of jail. It’s a time he’d rather not talk about.
Roland Conner, son Darius, and wife Patricia are photographed at the"pop up" cannabis dispensary location of their business Smacked, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, in New York. The store launch on Tuesday is New York's first legal cannabis dispensary run by someone previously criminalized by the state’s prohibitionist cannabis laws.
Conner is also receiving support from a $200 million public-private fund to aid “social equity” applicants for the state’s tightly controlled supply of dispensary licenses. The money is intended to help redress the ravages of the war on drugs, especially in communities of color. “This dispensary is the latest example of our efforts to build the most equitable and inclusive cannabis industry in the nation,” Hochul said in a statement last week. “As we continue to work toward righting wrongs of the past, I look forward to new dispensaries — owned by those most impacted by the over policing of cannabis prohibition — opening soon.”
They will have to compete with the scores of illicit dispensaries in New York that have long been in operation. When he opened his store, Conner was mindful that another unlicensed shop would soon be opening nearby.
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