Pott’s conviction opens a business opportunity for Manhattan’s second legal weed store owner. “Good vibes” – New York Daily News

Previously, marijuana convictions in New York City hampered business opportunities.

But under New York law, a marijuana charge against you or a relative qualifies for a license to sell legal cannabis.

So Roland Conner legally sells weed, a business his son Darius, 25, started. Their store is New York’s first licensed marijuana dispensary run by a cannabis convict.

“I think everyone deserves a chance,” Connor, owner of Smackd, the state’s second marijuana dispensary to open, said Tuesday morning before the doors of his Greenwich Village store opened.

“You should be able to go home in time and get a job,” Conner said. “And they shouldn’t be holding it against you.”

Connor and his family would not elaborate on his conviction. It’s no exaggeration to say that entrepreneurs are moving forward.

Dozens of customers lined up for the chance to be legally lit. Among them was Kathy Williams 59 in Jackson Heights. Williams said he has lived in New York for 20 years. That’s half the time she’s been smoking cannabis.

“I have smoked marijuana for 40 years,” Williams said. “I’ve been to Colorado and California to buy marijuana…I’m thrilled. It’s finally here.”

Williams said getting cannabis from Connor is a bonus for buying weed.

“I heard about this family and how my father broke the law to sell marijuana,” Williams said. “So I wanted to come and offer them my business.

“I was going to wait to get here, but I really want these social equity licenses to help people who have been adversely affected by marijuana laws, so I had to come.”

Smacked offers a wide variety of cannabis products, including flowers, tinctures, foods, and weed-infused sparkling water. The Bleecker St. storefront will operate as a ‘pop-up’ for his first month before undergoing a full renovation.

Dan, 52, a customer from Manhattan, said legal weed was being released.

“It’s like walking into a bar and you feel at ease,” he said. “There are guards and police, everything is on the ground.

“I don’t feel like I’m doing anything wrong. It’s a great atmosphere, great management, and a smooth process.”

Another dispensary just a block away, the Housing Works Cannabis Company, was the first licensed marijuana business in the state. The Housing Works store opened under the terms of a law that allows nonprofits to operate dispensing pharmacies that provide services, including assistance to those who were once incarcerated.

Connor’s wife said her husband and son decided to get into the business after learning their son was selling cannabis illegally.

“My husband was mad,” said Patricia Conner. “He didn’t want our son to go through the same pattern he went through. His husband was arrested for selling drugs and he didn’t want her son to sell.

“So I took the wind that legalization was going on in New York City and asked my son to find out how to do it legally. And he rose to the occasion.