NYC: A Stoner’s Paradise
Art By Rebekah Jenks
New York City has the tendency to heighten the grandiosity of really anything— from as minuscule as the curves of the buildings to as regal as a brand-new market opening. Thus, when recreational cannabis was legalized in March 2021, it was so monumental that the whole climate and landscape of the city changed along with it.
Art By Rebekah Jenks
Cannabis smoke has taken over the once-familiar aromas of nearby restaurants and bakeries, illicit dispensaries line every block, seemingly endless elevated experiences and spaces have popped up… and that all happened before the first recreational dispensary even opened. Now, the market is fully open, and it’s louder than the chatter of the city— louder than the mix of sirens and subways and people. The city’s cannabis scene is making noise, and New York City will never be the same because of it.
And as a weed enthusiast, I love it. New York City is a stoner’s paradise.
Art By Rebekah Jenks
Buying a joint on the go is just as easy as buying a cup of coffee nowadays. There are about ten spots within a three-block radius of my abode where I can grab coffee; there are just as many places I can grab a joint. And flower and vapes and dabs and edibles… and shrooms. There’s even a place a block away where I can pay $5 (live resin) or $10 (rosin) for a dab on the spot, which I often do on my way home after a long day or in the middle of a night out with friends. I can also hit the same spot once a month for an elevated comedy show; or if I miss that one, I can check out one of the dozens of others scattered throughout the city at various cannabis clubs, smoke shops, and venues. Or yoga or painting or cooking. This week I have high yoga on my calendar, next puff ‘n paint, and soon I’ll check out a cannabis-infused cooking experience.
And this is just a glimpse of what’s all going on.
I’ve been getting Instagram ads for a cannabis-infused “multi-sensory transportive experience” that just opened called The House of Cannabis, which features five floors of “art, music, fashion, cultivation, psychedelics, reform, [and] community.” The same app introduced me to a cannabis co-working space, Work’n’Roll, where I’ve seshed with industry folk from cultivators to lawyers to marketers; where I’ve attended a networking event purely for women in cannabis, just a week after attending a weed conference, Revelry, and just a month before attending MJUnpacked, one of the largest industry events in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Soon I will attend the CannaLuxxe Wellness Expo, a women-led event fusing cannabis and wellness through education and interactive experiences. And between all of that, I’ve enjoyed weed-infused parades, festivals, parties, and a variety of other events.
Art By Rebekah Jenks
New York City and its masses always seem to find a way to be grandiose. This city has always been an inspiring metropolis for the arts, just as much as it is for business; and cannabis has proven time and time again to alter one’s mind in a way that can unlock new levels of imagination, lend creative motivation, and take its consumer population to new heights, both in life and in work.
What a perfect place for cannabis to inhabit.
What a perfect place for a stoner to inhabit.
New York City is a stoner’s paradise.
Where else can you buy weed on any corner? Where else is sparking up with a friend after work just as normalized as grabbing a drink at the bar? Where else can you find seemingly any and every kind of cannabis-infused experience (even if illegal) within walking or public transportation distance?
There aren’t many other places where you can smoke weed anywhere you can tobacco. Where most people you know smoke. Where the culture of cannabis is evident and accepted and flourishing. It’s a magical time in a magical place because of a magical plant. Is this magic capable of changing the whole landscape of the city (for the better)? I hope so. I am confident as to so.
It has only been two years since weed was recreationally legalized in New York, and there is already so much movement. So much exciting movement and experiences and innovations. How lucky I am to be here now; how lucky we are to be here now, watching the stigma shatter in real-time, witnessing reparations, building a community and a culture, enjoying the plant as it’s meant to be, safely, accessible, and united.
