From Seed to Sale: Inside New York's Cannabis Industry

When Albany lawmakers legalized adult-use marijuana in March 2021, it was only the beginning of a complex, yearslong process. To create a legal marketplace, New York would effectively have to build an entire industry from scratch.

That process reached a milestone in December with the opening of the first retail dispensary, in Greenwich Village. There are now eight dispensaries statewide, with many more expected in the coming months.

But where do dispensaries get their product — which, by law, must be grown, processed and packaged in New York?

NY1 got an up-close look at the cannabis supply chain, which includes cultivators who grow the plant at farms across the state; processors who extract THC, the plant’s psychoactive component; manufacturers churning out products like gummies and vape cartridges; and laboratories that perform safety testing.

We go behind the scenes at each step of the process in this three-part series, “From Seed to Sale: Inside New York’s Cannabis Industry.”