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When Osbert Orduña, CEO of The Cannabis Place, addressed members of Queens Community Board 5 at a recent meeting, he came prepared with a slide show and detailed information about security measures planned for his proposed dispensary location.
He probably didnât need all that information, though. Less than 20 minutes into his presentation, Queens Community Board 5 Chair Vincent Arcuri Jr. began heckling Orduña.
âWrap it up,â Arcuri said.
Arcuri then turned over the microphone to several community members. While a couple seemed willing to hear Orduña out, most comments ranged from ill-informed pronouncements to an unhinged, screaming rant.
Under the MRTA, people or groups applying for an adult-use dispensary license in New York City must notify the community board that oversees the area at least 30 days (but not more than 270 days) before applying. The boards donât have a direct say whether zoning officials and the OCM approve a dispensary, but regulators will consider the boardsâ positions when deciding whether to greenlight a location.
As a result, entrepreneurs intending to open shops in New York City will all have to appear before boards like Queens Community Board 5.
Orduña, a service-disabled veteran who is currently running The Cannabis Place as a delivery-only business, seems like the kind of business owner local officials should want in their communities.
The Woodside native talked about the ID scanners he plans to use at the entrance to keep minors out, and the storeâs surveillance system. He mentioned hiring 35 workers to union jobs paying nearly $40 per hour. He said his store would stand in contrast to two unlicensed smoke shops in the neighborhood that sell weed illegally.
âSome community members have expressed concern about vagrancy, loitering and similar types of activity ⊠we will have a zero-tolerance policy for his type of activity in and around our dispensary,â Orduña said.
But the mild-mannered presentation delivered by the local entrepreneur elicited angry, dismissive responses by people who didnât seem to have listened to a word of Orduñaâs presentation.
Board member Dorie Figliola asked how the shop would prevent vagrancy â noting that a homeless shelter is located nearby â after Orduña had already addressed the issue. That was before she claimed that âa lot of us canât stand the smell of pot ⊠itâs disgusting.â
Figliola also said she was concerned that minors could find adults to buy cannabis for them at the store, just like they do with alcohol at liquor stores. However, she didnât appear to be concerned about liquor stores.
A man who identified himself as a âparent advocateâ in the community delivered a screaming, threatening diatribe in which he personally insulted Orduña.
âJust because a drug dealer comes here in a fancy suit and hipster glasses, doesnât make it any less evil!â the man shouted. âI reject this! And I expect everyone on this community board to vote against this drug dealer!â
Rather than warning the man about his over-the-top antics, board Chair Arcuri seemed amused, lightly chuckling when the man finished his screed.
Acuri appeared to reserve his concerns about conduct and process for people supporting Orduña.
When New York City cannabis czar Dasheeda Dawson tried to speak as a representative from Mayor Eric Adams office, Acuri wouldnât let her talk because she didnât reach the microphone on time.
âSit down please,â Acuri told Dawson. âI asked âwhoâs here from the mayorâs officeâ and no one responded.â
Later in the meeting, when the chair of a subcommittee on liquor and cannabis licenses expressed possible lukewarm support for Orduñaâs store, Acuri became confrontational. The board member said the subcommittee hadnât taken a vote on whether to support the dispensary location, but pointed out that cannabis is legal regardless of how people feel about it, and said licensed shops are better than illicit stores.
Acuri grilled the board member as to whether he was accurately representing the subcommittee.
âIs that the committeeâs report, or your position?â he asked.
New York State currently has fewer than 20 dispensaries open, and the nascent legal cannabis industry is struggling. Many cultivators are facing existential crises, as they lack weed retailers at which they can sell their products. Meanwhile, Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licensees are facing difficulty finding locations where cannabis stores are allowable, while also raising money without access to traditional business loans.
If the recent Queens Community Board 5 meeting provides any insight to New Yorkâs weed industry, itâs that community board hearings will likely be yet another hurdle.