CNY cannabis business cited for illegal sales has new owner and, now, a license

It has a new owner, a new name and new products. And now, for the first time, it has a license.

The Dispensary by the BuddBoyz is the new name for a Central New York cannabis business which operated as The Herbal Center for the last few years. The Herbal Center had frequently been accused by state and local authorities of illegal marijuana sales.

New owner Rodney Haymes recently bought out The Herbal Center from his cousin, John Vanfossen.

The Dispensary opened its first location, in the former Herbal Center at 918 N. Salina St. in Syracuse, this week.

Under Vanfossen, The Herbal Center had called itself a “private club.” It recently expanded to three locations, one each in Syracuse, Liverpool and Central Square.

But all those locations have been cited by state and local agencies for selling marijuana without a state license.

The Liverpool and Central Square locations were both ordered to close by the state Office of Cannabis Management this year after investigations coordinated with local police agencies.

The Syracuse location has been cited by the city codes office for illegal marijuana sales. The city then won a court ruling in July that prohibited cannabis sales there.

The Dispensary has a state license, but it’s not for full-THC marijuana. It is licensed to sell cannabinoid hemp, which has less of the psychoactive component THC than marijuana.

Specifically, The Dispensary will sell variations of hemp-derived cannabis called THCA and THCP, Haymes said. THCA can match marijuana’s THC level when burned, he said, and THCP is also potent.

“Our goal is to have something different to offer,” Haymes said.

Cannabis products derived from hemp have been legal to sell in New York since 2018. Recreational marijuana sales and possession became legal in 2021. The state cannabis issues different licenses for each.

The Syracuse Dispensary location is now open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

In Liverpool, Haymes will move the business from the former Herbal Center location at 612 Oswego St. to a space at 642 Old Liverpool Road, (former home of a VeraLife medical cannabis dispensary). Haymes expects that to open in about a month.

The Central Square location, at 3078 East Ave. (Route 49), was shut down this summer. It is still “under seal” from the state, Haymes said, so that opening will take longer.

Haymes, meanwhile is also working to open a licensed recreational marijuana dispensary in DeWitt. The Dank Bank by the BuddBoyz will be located in a former Chase Bank branch at 6004 Court Street Road.

The property still has its original vault, teller windows and drive-thru lanes, all of which Haymes will use. He plans to open that by Jan. 1.

Haymes’ goal of operating legal cannabis businesses began as soon as New York legalized marijuana in April 2021. But it’s taken him a while to get there.

He was one of the initial group of entrepreneurs who received preliminary license approval from the state to open a retail shop, or dispensary. Those licenses were part of the Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) program.

The CAURD licenses were only awarded to people who had been convicted of past marijuana offenses, or who had close relatives with such convictions. It was part of the state’s attempt to include “social equity” in establishing a legal cannabis industry.

Haymes makes no secret about his past: He said he was once an active dealer of marijuana on the streets of Syracuse and did some jail time for it.

He also said he became a fan of using cannabis after he came down with Chronic Lyme Disease several years ago. Cannabis, he said, eases his pain and anxiety.

“So now we’re here, doing things the right way, and selling a good product,” he said. “That’s what this is all about.”