Mid-Hudson Valley’s first recreational cannabis shop opens in Wawayanda

January 6, 2024

Originally published in Times Union on January 6, 2024 .

Shantel Libron became emotional as she spoke about how meaningful it was for her and her dad, Howard, to finally open Orange County Cannabis, their long-awaited recreational cannabis dispensary in Wawayanda.

“I’m very proud,” she said Friday, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Her dad, who moved from the Bronx to Middletown 30 years ago, had served time in jail for a marijuana-related offense in the past, Libron said, and the news coverage of it back then affected her family. But now they are being celebrated as local business owners who have opened the mid-Hudson Valley’s first legal marijuana shop in Wawayanda, selling recreational cannabis and creating 20 jobs in their community. They would have liked to have opened in Middletown, Libron said, but the city and most of the surrounding towns opted out of allowing recreational sales there.

Libron said opening has been empowering.

“It’s just mind-blowing,” she said. “It’s like a dream.”

Fellow licensees, growers, supporters, friends and family packed the colorful — mostly orange, of course — dispensary in a shopping plaza off Dolsontown Road to celebrate the occasion. Attendees milled about the store, checking out a variety of products. One of the prominently featured brands was Flower House, which grows cannabis on a farm in Walden that is stored in a climate-controlled warehouse in Montgomery.

Local dignitaries joined in the celebration at Orange County Cannabis, including representatives from the state Office of Cannabis Management, state Sen. James Skoufis, Assemblyman Karl Brabenec and Wawayanda Supervisor Denise Quinn.

During a brief news conference, Skoufis referred to a recent hearing the state Legislature had with the Office of Cannabis Management regarding the recreational marijuana sales rollout, during which legislators asked the board some tough questions.

“My question there focused on the fact that we did not have one single open dispensary in the entire Hudson Valley — when are we going to fix that problem? We’re going to fix that problem today,” Skoufis said as people cheered. “When I voted for the (Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act) that established adult-use recreational marijuana several years ago, this is what we envisioned: days like today, where you’ve got small business owners and a large family of business owners here who are employing people and generating economic impact in our community here in Orange County.”

There are 46 recreational cannabis dispensaries across New York. Among them, 14 are Black-owned shops, which the Office of Cannabis Management says highlights the state’s commitment to fostering a representative and inclusive cannabis market. According to industry research released by the office, fewer than 20 of the 10,000 medical and recreational cannabis retail shops across the country are Black-owned.

Immediately following Friday’s news conference, Howard Libron conducted the first sale in the store — to Shantel Libron, who purchased pre-rolls. The crowd cheered when she raised her receipt and danced. Howard later took a brief break from networking to look out over the crowd and the long line of customers.

“After so many months of seeing it empty, built and ready to go, now,” he motioned to the crowd, “it’s like, touchdown.”