Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 37
A two-and-a-half-year process of certifications, documentation, site approvals and meeting other requirements resulted in an event that was as lighthearted as the name of the business at the heart of the occasion. Happy Munkey Cannabis boutique opened on Monday afternoon as the first legal cannabis shop in Upper Manhattan above the George Washington Bridge. Its odyssey from concept to reality underscores how daunting the process to open legally can be, and is also a reminder of how illegal shops remain a challenge to the legitimate ones.
The ribbon cutting on Monday afternoon was the end of a journey that’s lasted far longer than the three years in which cannabis has been legal in New York State.
Happy Munkey’s co-founders, Vladimir Bautista and Ramon Reyes, said that the opening of their custom-designed boutique is validation for all they’ve endured.
After the state legalized marijuana, it also expunged the criminal records of Reyes and Bautista, and other former cannabis dealers. Now, the two said, they’re free to build wealth by running their business.
Also, taxes on the legal weed go toward funding programs from which communities benefit. In fact, 4% of the profit is earmarked, through taxes, to benefit the neighborhood in which each legal shop is located. In the case of Happy Munkey, that means Inwood and Washington Heights.
The business partners said that the city’s efforts to shut down illegal shops have been important for ensuring that people have access to high quality cannabis.
In fact, three illegal smoke shops within two blocks of the newly opened store have been shut down this year. Still, some illegal shops remain in the city.
Bautista and Reyes said that it might help their business and others like theirs if some of the regulations imposed by the state were relaxed, particular when it came to advertising.
Source & photo: PIX 11
