{"id":125100,"date":"2025-03-07T15:01:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T20:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/?p=125100"},"modified":"2025-03-10T15:50:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T19:50:39","slug":"legal-marijuana-industry-is-taking-root-in-riverhead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/2025\/03\/125100\/legal-marijuana-industry-is-taking-root-in-riverhead\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal marijuana industry is taking root in Riverhead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New York State legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, but it has taken several years for the cannabis industry to take root on Long Island. When Strain Stars, the island\u2019s first recreational marijuana dispensary, opened in Farmingdale in July 2023, there were fewer than 20 legal cannabis stores statewide. Riverhead\u2019s first retail dispensary, Beleaf<\/a>, opened in Calverton<\/a> in November, and the following month Strain Stars opened the largest retail shop<\/a> in the state on Old Country Road in Riverhead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Strain Stars\u2019 Riverhead manager Narita Kaur, CEO Yuvraj Singh\u2019s cousin, said business has been booming since day one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew that cannabis is a growing industry, and we expected insane numbers, but it was still beyond our belief,\u201d Mr. Kaur said of the early sales. \u201cThe amount of people that we saw from opening day to now has just continued to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, Long Island\u2019s eight cannabis retailers generated $109,352,654 in total revenue and $20,777,004 in sales tax<\/a>, according to the state Office of Marijuana Management<\/a>. As of November 2024, Long Island accounted for 11% of retail sales statewide, despite being home to only 3% of New York\u2019s dispensaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2021 law legalizing recreational cannabis sales requires that the municipality where a dispensary is located receives 4% of the taxes collected \u2014 with 3% going to the town and 1% to Suffolk County. In 2024, Babylon netted $2.6 million in cannabis taxes, while the county brought in $871,000, for a total of nearly $3.5 million in revenue. Those figures are expected to grow as more dispensaries open.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are so many towns across Long Island piercing their tax caps,\u201d said Gahrey Ovalle, president of the Long Island Cannabis Coalition, a nonprofit industry trade group. \u201cThey have the ability to collect cannabis tax revenue without raising taxes. This surplus tax revenue can accommodate and alleviate\u201d local budgets, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe towns themselves and the supervisors and elected officials are recognizing that this cannabis industry is a lot more profitable than what they thought\u201d Mr. Ovalle said.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He also noted the region\u2019s cannabis dispensaries have not sparked any of problems envisioned by opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are almost zero issues and zero complaints in Babylon with nuisance, crime. In Riverhead, there were two complaints, and it was about the signs that are on the stores, not the stores themselves,\u201d Mr. Ovalle said. \u201cNo issues, no traffic, no crime, no selling to children.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, one of the biggest challenges to state-sanctioned cannabis dispensaries has been that no banks would do business with them because marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. That left dispensaries with loads of cash on hand, which made them robbery targets. Solving for that has paved the way for strong growth in the young industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNone of the large banks that work across multiple states and at the federal level are offering any kind of cannabis accounts,\u201d Mr. Ovalle said, \u201cbut there are a lot of state-run banks and local banks that absolutely do. We have quite a few here on Long Island.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beyond tax revenue, legalized weed has also introduced a new profession into the area economy: budtenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strain Stars staffer Nicholas Cordova said he wants to make a career out of marijuana and has devoted the last four years of his life exclusively to educating himself about the wild world of weed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all up here,\u201d Mr. Cordova said, tapping his head. \u201cIt\u2019s the knowledge that you gain throughout your travels. I used to go to Freedom Rally festivals [in Boston], harvest festivals, and people would show off all their cannabis, and you would educate one another, because it\u2019s an industry that was untapped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With hundreds and hundreds of different cannabis products, he said, there\u2019s a universe of options to choose from, and a good budtender can guide a new customer to their best bet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to sell feelings,\u201d Mr. Cordova explained. \u201cWe\u2019re here to sell emotion. I like selling cannabis by asking, \u2018What are you trying to do?\u2019 We try and set the mood here [at the counter]. \u2018We\u2019re trying to go out with the boys\u2019 or \u2018We\u2019re trying to watch the game.\u2019 \u2018We\u2019re just hanging out. We\u2019re just home on the couch.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Cordova said he showed up for his job interview with Strain Stars with a notebook full of ideas, and was quickly hired. His birthday is April 20, or \u201c420,\u201d an internationally recognized reference to marijuana that some say originated with The Waldos, a group of early 1970s potheads at a high school in San Rafael, Calif. (Contrary to popular belief, 420 is not a police code for marijuana, nor is it the number of chemical compounds in cannabis or the day Bob Marley died.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The East End\u2019s other state-sanctioned retail dispensary, Beleaf (4462 Middle Country Road, Calverton) opened last fall with a focus on customer service. Its Budtenders guide shoppers through a wide variety of options, including tinctures, vape cartridges, edibles and pre-rolled joints as well cannabis-infused drinks such as seltzers and even cold-brewed coffee. The shop also carries cannabis-infused teas by Harney Brothers of Millerton, N.Y. Each flavor has a different recommended application, including ones for sleep and focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhenever someone walks in the door, they\u2019re going to be greeted, and then one of the budtenders will come out and speak to them,\u201d said Beleaf co-owner Mike Reda. \u201cYou know, not everybody wants or needs help. That\u2019s why once someone\u2019s familiar with the store, we do have the express kiosk [for self-service]. If someone wants to come in and order real quick and then just proceed to the counter, they have that option. But if someone\u2019s looking for a more educational experience or recommendations, that\u2019s what the budtender is for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Strain Stars opened its Riverhead location in December at 1871 Old Country Road and offers 1,200 distinct products ranging from flower and pre-rolled joints to edibles and beverages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe saw how things progressed in Farmingdale, at our first store, and we were prepared, excited and a little bit anxious to do this big project,\u201d  Mr. Singh said. \u201cNow that it\u2019s finally here and done, we\u2019re very excited and hope for the best.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new location, at the corner of Kroemer Avenue and Route 58, sat empty for a number of years as properties around it were developed. Despite logistical challenges, Strain Stars was able to finish construction and open for business relatively quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were a lot of negotiations here and there,\u201d Singh said. \u201cBut this property was vacant for almost 20 years, and we were just fortunate enough to be able to lock it down, kind of in the right place at the right time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the initial growing pains subside, and the tax benefits start hitting public coffers, Mr. Ovalle expects a lot more legal dispensaries to come on line in the region over the next few years. Local governments \u201care starting to become more open, at least conceptually,\u201d he said, noting that the whole industry is \u201cstarting to normalize. We\u2019re being treated like a regular business \u2014 just like a construction company or a pizza shop.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York State legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, but it has taken several years for the cannabis industry to take root on Long Island. When Strain Stars, the island\u2019s first recreational marijuana dispensary, opened in Farmingdale in July 2023, there were fewer than 20 legal cannabis stores statewide. Riverhead\u2019s first retail dispensary, Beleaf, opened in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2010,"featured_media":125115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1743,35],"tags":[17468,17695,16073,13186,17470],"coauthors":[16829],"class_list":["post-125100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured-story","category-news","tag-beleaf","tag-bizmag2025","tag-cannabis","tag-premium","tag-strain-stars"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLegal marijuana industry is taking root in Riverhead - Riverhead News Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Beleaf opened in Calverton in Nov. and the following month Strain Stars opened the largest shop in the state on Old Country Rd in Riverhead.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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