BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Armond June is the co-founder and CEO of Revival: Pharm. Lab. Market. He said he's been patiently waiting for a cannabis license.
"Excited to get underway and things are finally getting moving," June said.
He and his team plan to transform a building on Chicago Street in downtown Buffalo into a craft cannabis boutique.
"We're hoping to house cultivation operations manufacturing, as well as a retail dispensary and small lounge for consumers," June said.
He said right now his team is waiting for their application to be reviewed.
"I think the whole process has been difficult, probably a little bit more difficult than it needed to be," he said.
This long process has urged members from a variety of cannabis industry groups to launch the 'Cannabis Conference.' The group is coming together to work with officials to find solutions to the ongoing challenges facing the cannabis market. They're laying out 12 priorities to fix what they say is a "delayed" and "flawed" rollout of the retail cannabis market.
"I'm hoping now that along with the pressure that we've been applying as well as organizations like the cameras association with New York politicians, that you know, they do get moving and it looks like they're moving in that direction," June said.
Last week the Cannabis Control Board cancelled its meeting to approve a handful of licenses saying in part, "OCM is working hard to process this major backlog of applications."
While in Buffalo, Governor Kathy Hochul expressed her frustration with the rollout and said she had a part in the board canceling its meeting.
"I'm very fed up with how long it has taken to get these approvals," she said. "My team got involved and says, "No, go back to the drawing board, work harder, get this done." And no, I'm not satisfied with the pace."
She said litigation has also held up the process.
Meantime — June said he hopes by the next control board meeting his team will be on the list for approval.
"We are hopeful that, you know, over the next month or two we can see some rapid progress," he said.
