QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) — Most of the bud, cannabis candies and other legal recreational products coming to New York City’s new legal marijuana shops have been coming from outside the city, where it is much cheaper to produce. That is, until this week.
All in One, a cannabis product creator, opened in Long Island City and gave PIX11 an exclusive inside look.
As owner Mike Geraci walked around the floor of his new facility, it quickly became clear this is not how your parent’s cannabis was made.
Batches of mango mixture with THC were carefully curated and then cascaded into capsule molds. A few hours later, the gummies are separated and tossed with sugar in the shadow of some of the city’s skyscrapers.
“We manufacture everything from gummies to pre-rolls to concentrates to chocolates, all under the same roof,” said Geraci, who also has a growing operation upstate.
He said it’s important to produce THC products like chocolates and pure pressed oils in New York City, not just to save on shipping, but to employ the people who have been most harmed by the war on drugs.
“So this will be something of a training ground for people coming from the legacy market, coming here, learning the legal system, and then going out and applying for their own licenses and running their own businesses,” he said.
Ramon Vasquez, 27, fits that bill. He was running quality control checks, plus packaging and processing pre-rolled joints during PIX11’s tour on Wednesday.
“It’s like a dream come true,” he said.
Vasquez added that working in the legal recreational market is eye-opening for many of his co-workers.
“It’s something that’s really serious,” Vasquez said. “It’s not just me in my neighborhood, making some brownie. This is something that is tested and you have to meet the criteria every time.”
All of the raw materials are lab tested for purity before being cooked, and then again before being wholesaled to legal dispensaries under different names like Pure Vibe gummies, Hysteria chocolate, and Head Space pre-rolls.
Finally, All in One adds a QR code so customers buying the products in legal recreational shops can see the lab report trail to verify quality for themselves.
