Paper & Leaf Hemp Company, which recently opened in the New Hartford Shopping Center, is positioning itself to become a full marijuana dispensary as soon as it is possible.
The company, owned by Shane Carter and Dave Keller, launched May 28, with a grand opening attended by the New Hartford Chamber of Commerce on July 10.
Paper & Leaf originally started out with liquids and CBD products, according to Operations Manager Savanah Martin. Now, the store also sells Delta 8 and Delta 10 cannabis products—scientific labels for the type of cannabis sold.
Currently, Delta 8 and Delta 10 compounds can be sold and used recreationally in New York, Martin said.
“It’s kind of in the grey area in the state at the moment and federally,” Martin said of Delta 8 and Delta 10.
Delta 9 is the main compound in cannabis that gets people high. Martin said Paper & Leaf is planning to sell Delta 9 once it becomes legal to do so under New York’s new law allowing recreational marijuana use.
State: New York legalized recreational marijuana. Here’s how much you can now possess
Martin said Paper & Leaf anticipates more direction from Albany this winter, with a potential turn to a dispensary in the spring. Legal marijuana sales at licensed dispensaries and on-site consumption spaces may begin April 1, 2022, at the earliest, but much needs to happen at the state level before then.
“We are ready to open as a full dispensary whenever we’re allowed to,” Martin said. “We’re trying to get ahead of the game.”
Legalized recreational use
The state’s new recreational marijuana law, approved by Cuomo and lawmakers in late March, immediately allowed those over the age of 21 to possess up to three ounces of cannabis and consume it nearly anywhere cigarettes can be legally consumed.
Local governments must decide whether to allow legal marijuana sales within their borders by Dec. 31. If they miss the deadline, they forfeit their right to opt out.
However, opting out means forfeiting potential revenue, since the only way local governments can get tax money from marijuana is from legal sales within their jurisdiction.
Under the new state law, legal marijuana sales can occur at state-licensed dispensaries and “on-premises consumption sites,” which will essentially be lounges where people can consume cannabis on site.
Retail sales will be taxed at 13%, with 9% going to the state. The remaining 4% goes to the local government where the sale took place — 3% to the city, town or village and 1% to the county.
Paper & Leaf Hemp Company
Paper & Leaf currently carries a variety of CBD, Delta 8 and Delta 10 flowers, edibles, oils and balm products. The company also has pet products.
“We pretty much have everything you can think of when it comes to marijuana,” Martin said.
Paper & Leaf is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
Customers must be 21 to enter and IDs are checked, Martin said.
Martin said Paper & Leaf is looking at the possibility of opening more locations in Central New York and Pennsylvania.
Information from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle was included in this report.
Ed Harris is the Oneida County reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Ed Harris at EHarris1@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Getting ahead of the game: New Hartford CBD business aims to become marijuana dispensary
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