Slow start to New York's legal pot market leaves farmers holding the bag
New York's fledgling marijuana market doesn't have enough licensed retailers to sell the 300,000 pounds (136,000 kilograms) of cannabis grown by farmers in the state
By MICHAEL HILL
Published - Jun 04, 2023, 12:33 AM ET
Last Updated - Jun 21, 2023, 01:04 PM EDT
ARGYLE, N.Y. (AP) — Seth Jacobs has about 100 bins packed with marijuana flower sitting in storage at his upstate New York farm.
And that’s a problem. There aren’t enough places to sell it.
The 700 pounds (318 kilograms) of pungent flower was harvested last year as part of New York's first crop of legally grown pot for recreational use. He also has roughly 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of distillate. Months later, there are only a dozen licensed dispensaries statewide to sell what Jacobs and more than 200 other farmers produced.
Now, another growing season is underway and farmers still sitting on much of last year's harvest are in a financial bind.
