MedMen in NYC

I got my marijuana medical license in CA before cannabis was legalized.  The process was pretty seamless.   I figured as soon as licenses are issued for dispensary’s in NY for medical purposes that the process would become seamless in NY too and it has.  I saw a doctor online for NY vs in person in CA and was issued a document.  Then I took the patient number off the document and entered all of that into the correct area at the NYGov site and about 10 days later the license showed up in the mail.

MedMen has a dispensary in midtown.  I went there last week.  I walked into the shop and on the left-hand side is a counter with two older men who must own the license for this store.  I am not sure how that works because I don’t believe that MedMen is a franchise but I could be wrong.  These two men were not dressed in the “MedMen” t-shirts so they were not on brand.  They appeared to chuckle to themselves the entire time as if they can’t believe that they are actually selling cannabis products legally.

I gave them my license and then they introduced me to a young man who would take care of me.  He brought me over to the product bar.  The place is clean to the point of feeling antiseptic.  All their products are white labeled here, so the organization is vertical.  He gave me the rundown on the tinctures, the vapes, and the oils stressing how each would help me with my medical issues.

Then he brought me to the counter to check out where a doctor appears to talk to me for a bit, and then each item is rung up separately so that they can enter what I am using into the system.  Possibly for regulation.  The products are ridiculously expensive compared to CA but they are the only game in town.  For what it is worth, the products are ok, not great.  I left with my bag and pondered the experience compared to CA.

There seems to be a rising tide to legalize cannabis in NY based on tax data and positive info around less opiate consumption to a variety of other meds.  As an investor in the space, I did not invest in any of the opportunities around owning the licenses for NY because I have believed that once the cat is out of the bag that the shift to becoming legal will happen quickly and the value of the licenses might end up like the demise of the taxi medallion.

The best part of the entire experience was outside of MedMen.  A young woman came up to me and asked me what I had bought in the store and for what price.  She showed me her phone with all the products she could get me for half the price.  She was quite the entrepreneurial hustler.  She delivers to your door, gave me her phone number for future purchases.  Truth is, I would rather buy from her than MedMen after the experience and the products but I am pretty sure her business is going to decline rapidly once everything becomes legal unless of course, she could open a storefront.