By Stefan Yablonski
New York legalized recreational adult-use cannabis through the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act in 2021.
The state’s industry has faced numerous legal hurdles over implementation. But the industry overall is thriving.
The strongest retail sales were recorded in densely populated regions in the downstate area — particularly Manhattan, Queens and Long Island — according to the State Office of Cannabis Management published its 2024 market report recently.
As of Dec. 31, 2024, New York has licensed 713 retail dispensaries, 260 of which have opened their doors to the public for adult use sales. More than 50% of these open locations are less than six months old.
Two businesses have opened recently in Oswego County. One is located in Fulton, the other in Oswego.
According to New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management, there is one existing cannabis-related business in Oswego County, though it is not retail, Happy Healing 420 LLC, a designated microbusiness located at 69 Wilcox Road in Fulton. That address is the site of Veteran’s Ananda, a nonprofit organization located on farmland that provides medical and psychological services to military veterans.
“Things are going pretty good,” said Ashley Powell, assistant manager at Leafy Wonders Cannabis Dispensary in Fulton.
“We have our one-year anniversary coming up. Our soft opening was May 15 and the grand opening was May 18 of 2024,” she said. “We are doing an event, a little carnival event. 50% of proceeds will go to the Lanigan playground and the other 50% will go to the Oswego County DARE program.”
Sales are tracking with what the expectation was for the new year; obviously there is some fluctuation, but we are doing pretty well, she added.
The owners have talked about the possibility of expansion
“There are a bunch of different opportunities out there and the owners, I think, are just going to wait for the right opportunity — that is right not only for them but the community as well and industry as a whole,” Powell said. “So right now there is nothing definitive.”
Darrell Pfiffner and his wife, Natasha Glynn, opened the first cannabis store in Oswego, the FlynnStoned Cannabis Company at 143 George St.
They started in January 2025 and have been busy ever since, he said.
“So far, so good. The revenues have been on target with what we projected,” he said. “It’s getting busier now that the weather is getting better. As the weather gets nicer more people are coming out.”
FlynnStoned sells a variety of products.
“There are so many different products. We sell a lot of, pretty much everything. I wouldn’t say there is just one particular product that stands out,” he said.
The brand continues to grow. FlynnStoned opened in North Syracuse and one in Rochester, he added.
Market growth
The adult use cannabis market has demonstrated significant growth since the first regulated retail sale in December 2022.
Since then, reported monthly retail sales have surged from $2.2 million in January 2023 to a peak of $133.3 million in November 2024, leading to a total of more than $1 billion in retail sales since the market’s launch through the end of December 2024, according to the Office of Cannabis Management report.
In calendar year 2023, cannabis retail market sales in New York state totaled $160 million and have surged to $869.4 million in calendar year 2024.
Some key points of the report issued by the New York State Office of Cannabis Management:
• Consumer access to legal cannabis is growing quickly as the pace of new dispensary openings accelerates. Nearly 300 dispensaries opened by the close of 2024.
• The Office of Cannabis Management opened nearly one dispensary every business day of the year. This pace of new retail doors opening is expected to continue for the foreseeable future as OCM continues to issue new retail licenses and as provisionally licensed businesses begin to secure and operationalize their retail dispensary locations.
• Significant consumer education is needed to orient consumers to the legal market’s products.
• Most of New York’s legal cannabis demand will come from consumers transitioning from the illicit market to the regulated market, not from new consumers who began using cannabis after it was legalized, according to the report.
• Continued enforcement against the illicit market is critical to building a healthy regulated market. In 2024, OCM made significant strides in targeting New York’s illicit market, leveraging newly granted powers to padlock more than 1,500 unlicensed storefronts, seize illicit products and fine the owners and operators of the unlicensed businesses.
