Sometime later this year, New York City will allow recreational marijuana to be sold, opening what is expected to be one of the most lucrative legal cannabis markets in the world. The marijuana that will become New York's first legal crop is being grown by dozens of farmers. I visited a farm two hours north of New York City in Hudson, New York, and saw how far there is to go before sales open. One of the first legal marijuana crops in New York state is being produced on a farm owned by John D. Rockefeller's granddaughter. Hudson Hemp is a full-time marijuana farm, so don't let the name fool you. The difference between marijuana and hemp is that marijuana has less of the psychoactive substance that makes you feel high. Beyond being used for textiles and manufacturing, it can also be used to extractCannabidiol oil. Hudson Hemp has been doing that for several years. But no longer. Marijuana growers in New York state are months away from harvest. It takes anywhere from three to eight months to grow a cannabis plant to maturity, depending on a wide number of variables, and another several weeks to cure the product after that. When legal marijuana sales open later this year, only product grown and processed in New York state will be allowed for sale. There are limitations on how much can be grown by one licenseholder. She said that the restriction creates a lot of variables in how much someone could produce. If it isn't in the flowering stage you can technically have a crop growing, but it doesn't count against your canopy. She said we could have run two cycles if we had a greenhouse already up. How does a business make goods for a market that isn't there yet? The question is quietly hovering over every step of the operation. Do consumers prefer pre-rolled joints or whole packaged flowers? When legal sales of marijuana open up later this year, what stores will be able to sell it? Dobson told me that she did not know where they would conduct their first sales. The application process for retail licenses in New York is not open yet, and educational workshops for applicants have begun. Delays between legalization and recreational sales have become very common. Dobson thinks that the first licensed retailers will be existing medical dispensaries, which are all owned by so-called multi-state operators. It will be degrading when you open an eighth of New York City Diesel after you get home from the dispensary. Marijuana is an organic material that breaks down over time. The clock begins to tick on the quality of the product when Hudson Hemp harvests its first crop later this year. If packaged in an oxygen-free container and kept in a cool, dry, dark place, marijuana can last for a year. Hudson Hemp will only offer pre-roll joints in its first year of sales, so that it will smoke beautifully and consistently, and also resealable so that you can keep the freshness of the pre-rolls. Ben Gilbert, senior correspondent for Insider, can be reached via email at bgilbert@insider.com. You can use a non-work device to reach out. Please only email PR pitches. Keep reading.
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Ben Gilbert/Insider
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