Joseph B. Simons had one of his first memorable experiences with marijuana when he was busted for smoking a joint during his senior year at Oneonta High School.
He used that 2002 experience as a motivation to go to law school and start up a successful criminal law practice in the Boston area.
Simons’ high school pot conviction has also proved instrumental in helping him become the first individual to receive a New York state license to open a recreational marijuana shop (dispensary) in Central New York.
“It has definitely been a motivational tool for me,” Simons said. “It changed my outlook on things.”
Simons was awarded one of the 99 new retail weed licenses announced Monday by the state Office of Cannabis Management. That brings the state’s total awarded retail licenses to 165, although only six shops have actually opened.
Central New York is one of several regions in the state that have lagged behind in licenses because, until last month, a court injunction barred the state from awarding individual licenses in those areas. Now only the Finger Lakes is prohibited from having licensees.
Simons, who hopes to open his shop in or near Syracuse, qualified for a license under the state’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) program, a key in what the state calls its social equity goal in starting up the legal marijuana businesses.
For now, the CAURD program limits licensees to individuals, or close relatives of individuals, who have been convicted of marijuana offenses in the past and also have demonstrated successful business experience. Other licenses are going to non-profit agencies that serve those impacted by past pot convictions.
Simons, 38, is the first individual CAURD licensee in Central New York. The only other Central New York license went to an affiliate of the nonprofit Loretto, the large local nursing home agency.
Like Loretto, Simons has not yet decided where or when his shop will open. He knew he wanted to locate somewhere in Central New York because he knows the area well (his parents still live in Oneonta).
He’s considering Syracuse as the “most likely” location because it is the “population center” of the region.
“Central New York is where I’m used to, it’s where I grew up,” Simons said. “I want to use it (the dispensary) to help revitalize the community, attracting good jobs and tax money. It’s my way of giving back, redeeming myself so to speak.”
Of course Simons believes he has redeemed himself with his legal practice, which has offices in Boston and Salem, Mass. He went to Suffolk University Law School in Boston after graduating from SUNY Oneonta.
It all dates back to that incident in the high school parking lot, he said.
“I had never really done anything outwardly to get into trouble,” he said. “But this seemed to put me on a different trajectory.”
He also noted how it impacted a high school friend who was arrested at the same time and whose life plans changed.
“It just didn’t feel right to have something like this affecting your life, maybe even ending up with jail time,” he said. “I’d never considered going in to the law until this. … That’s why I became a lawyer, to help people in these situations.”
Now that he has secured a license, Simons will start to put together a plan for his dispensary, where he will be able to sell marijuana in forms that you can smoke, vape, eat or drink.
He has not yet decided whether he will look for his own location, or seek the assistance of the state cannabis office, which has designated the Dormitory of the State of New York to help find and build out dispensaries for CAURD license holders.
Simons, who lives north of Boston and describes as a “fan” of marijuana, said he may end up hiring a manager to run the store. But he also said there’s a possibility he considers a career change and comes to Central New York to run the business himself.
“I could see myself doing that,” he said. “I believe in the future of this business.”
Simons’ success in securing a license in Central New York came as a surprise to some people who have been in the trenches of the state cannabis industry since recreational use was legalized in April 2021.
“Everybody is asking, ‘Who is this guy?’ ” said Mike Golden, who with his partner Byron Cage have been working on a retail license application for more than a year. “No one seems to know him.”
Joe Rossi, who heads up a Syracuse-based cannabis industry lobbying firm, had a similar reaction, especially when learning Simons lives out of state.
“Yeah but if he resides outside NYS … “ Rossi wrote in an email to syracuse.com. “Wow.”
Redistributed with permission from syracuse.com