The first store selling legal cannabis opened its doors this Thursday in the heart of Manhattan, in New York, with the permission of the city authorities.

More than a hundred people rushed to the opening of the store of the Housing Works association, a non-profit organization, the first licensed in the state of New York (eastern United States), which has already delivered 36 authorizations since November 21.

“The first sale of legal cannabis for adults represents a historic boost for the cannabis industry in New York,” said the Democratic governor of the fourth state in the United States, Kathy Hochul.

The state of New York, whose territory extends to Canada, favored the Housing Works association, which helps HIV-positive people, ex-convicts and the homeless, because it is committed to delivering the first 150 licenses to merchants who have at some point been convicted of possession or sale of cannabis.

This, with the aim of repairing what he considers to be an unfair and disproportionate impact of decades of marijuana prohibition, particularly against the African-American and Hispanic communities.

The City Council forecasts sales of 1.3 billion dollars in 2023 and the creation of between 19,000 and 24,000 new jobs in three years.

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