Marijuana is no longer a street business. Now, it's a mainstream industry that has its own expo at the Javits Center. NY1's Michael Scotto filed the following report.
A vaporizer with marijuana pods that look like the ones in your coffee maker. A fresh-fruit flavored drink that will get you high in minutes when it's laced with pot. These are just two of the products on display at the Cannabis Expo, a trade show at the Javits Center for the booming marijuana business.
There's no real pot here, only make-believe. But one day, that could change. So far, 25 states have legalized medical marijuana, with New York recently joining the lengthening list. And four states now allow people to use pot for fun.
The expo has grown tremendously over the last two years. When it started in 2014, there were just 15 exhibitors. Now, there are more than 100.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to catch an industry at the beginning," said Dan Humiston, president of the International Cannabis Association.
Andy Joseph, owner of Apeks Supercritical, sells a machine that extracts oil from marijuana plants for medicinal purposes. He says his business has grown 8,000 percent in 15 years.
"Every single company in this industry is not a large pharmaceutical company or a large manufacturing company," said Joseph. "Every single one of them is entrepreneurial startups, just like mine."
His device is used by one of the five companies licensed in New York to operate a marijuana dispensary. So far, the state's restrictive law has kept the market small. But business owners say they expect it to expand.
“It is a small market for our business. But we do believe it's important to be in emerging markets and small markets because those markets will grow,” said Jessica Billingsley of MJ Freeway.
That's one reason the owner of Bubby's Restaurants here in the city is getting into the edible end of the business. He's making marijuana-laced juices that will initially be for sale in Oregon.
“The first time I was in this business was when I was in eighth grade, selling dime bags,” said Ron Silver, the owner of Bubby's.
Now, he’s getting rich off of marijuana the legal way.