Cayuga County's first licensed cannabis dispensary is getting ready to open in Auburn, and we hope the business can seamlessly fit into the community just like any other.
Recreational cannabis has made headlines for all the wrong reasons in Cayuga County over the past several years, with operators selling unregulated products and neighborhood complaints, police raids and court cases becoming commonplace. New York state officials bear some responsibility for that mess by making recreational聽cannabis legal in March 2021, but then dragging their feet trying to figure out how the new multi-billion-dollar market was going to work. As a result, it has taken three and a half years for the first licensed cannabis shop to open in Auburn.
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Three and a half years after recreational cannabis was legalized in New York state, the city of Auburn is getting its first licensed dispensary.
Wild Flower, which is planning a November opening at 41 Genesee St., will sell cannabis products that are fully legal and strictly regulated 鈥 unlike those sold by its unlicensed predecessors. People of all backgrounds should feel comfortable visiting the new shop, whether they know exactly what they're looking for or are just curious to see what all the buzz is about.
The owners of the new dispensary said that some of the first people they approached about doing business in the city were Auburn's mayor and chief of police. They are evidently committed to doing things the right way, and want to be good neighbors 鈥 again, unlike the operators before them who gave their business model a bad name.
We know cannabis has its detractors, but like it or not, it's here to stay. So we hope this new, legal venture and the ones that will follow can start with a clean slate in our community.