Legal Marijuana Still Faces High Hurdles in New York

Welcome to my latest look at the business of selling psychoactive substances. Last week, just as the world acted surprised by the news that weed would be sold in gas stations — sending my scoop on Circle K’s deal trending on Twitter — I walked a good 15 blocks to a cannabis conference near New York City’s Penn Station and was struck by how many conveniently located stores are already selling illegally. “THC and CBD GET BAKED NEW YORK CITY” screamed one sign. It turns out I wasn’t the only one.

Just outside the Luxury Meets Cannabis Conference in New York City last Thursday, where a well-coiffed crowd in designer clothes sampled artisanal hemp beverages and checked out discreet packaging for hash pre-rolls, stores openly sold illegal marijuana in the streets around the city’s main railway station.