Edibles in NYC

September 22, 2021 12:09 PM

I'm visiting NY for a couple months. I would like to purchase some edibles. Difficulty level: Nonresident without a car. Snowflakes inside.

I would ideally like something like the Kiva Lost Farms gummies that are in basically every dispensary in SF, but I understand that those are not sold in NYC. The things I like about them that I would also like in similar products:

• Made by a company large enough to have a real QA/QC process
• Live resin
• Vegan (optional, but I like the texture better)

What are my options for this? It seems like all the dispensaries in NYC right now are only for medical marijuana, and it doesn't seem worth trying to visit a doctor and set that up, given that I'm not going to be in NY for long. It sounds like a lot of people go out of state to buy weed legally, but I don't want to drive — is there anywhere I can get something like this that's transit-accessible from NYC? Or are there not-quite-legal places that have edibles that aren't just things that some guy threw together?

posted by wesleyac to Shopping (16 answers total)

Best answer: Recreational weed retail is not yet legal in NY, so if you want to do this without leaving the state you'll have to utilize the black market (there are many delivery companies that do this and it's very easy and (I think) safe, though you won't have the kind of wide range of options you'd find in a retail setting) or get someone with a medical weed card to shop for you. I hear you on not having a car, but you could take the Amtrak to Boston and buy weed very easily there, it's legal in MA. There's a nice store in Downtown Crossing, a ten minute walk from South Station.
posted by cakelite at 12:20 PM on September 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Oh, and most of the weed delivery services are by referral only, but if you are staying in NYC for a couple months you should not have too much trouble finding someone who can refer you.
posted by cakelite at 12:22 PM on September 22, 2021

The people I know who want eddies that are not produced in "some guys basement" go up to Theory on the NY-Mass border (Great Barrington). Unfortunately, I do not know how to get there without a car. I also know people that when they go to CA or CO, just fly back with a personal stash. Never been hassled. It is legal to possess in NY. They put it in a plastic container in their carry on and go. I think worst case is TSA confiscates. That can be expensive, but other than that, no ramifications.

You could take a train to white plains and rent a car, but that is driving albeit not in a city driving. I think your best bet is finding someone with a car, finding someone who will get it and deliver, or finding someone with a med prescription.
posted by AugustWest at 12:23 PM on September 22, 2021

mail some to yourself on your way out of town?
posted by wowenthusiast at 12:46 PM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

I’m pretty sure it violates federal law to fly with edibles. I’m pretty sure many folks have done it.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:53 PM on September 22, 2021 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Seconding cakelite; I have friends who, pre-pandemic, regularly did the day trip up to Boston for "errands" thing from New York and New Jersey without using a car. Hop on an early Amtrak, pick up what they came for, go to lunch, spend the rest of the day touristing and seeing friends and eating their way through town, return after dinner.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 12:56 PM on September 22, 2021

Best answer: Sent you a memail. Another option for legal purchasing is to take the Acela to DC, which is only a 2 and a half hour trip! In DC I recommend Top Level.
posted by nancynickerson at 1:21 PM on September 22, 2021

There's currently a sort of loophole for products containing delta-8 thc which puts them in a bit of a gray area. Some CBD stores in NY are currently selling delta-8 stuff, at least for the moment.
posted by Ragged Richard at 2:02 PM on September 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

The path train goes to NJ, but I'm not familiar with any shops near its stations
posted by brujita at 3:24 PM on September 22, 2021

There are no legal recreational shops in jersey yet either. A bigger issue I think you’ll have a getting some through the illegal market is that it’s impossible to tell what is actual seepage from the legal market vs back room manufactured but with packaging to make them look official. As an example the NYC area is filled with 225 mg punch bars but they don’t actually make those any more in legal states (not saying they don’t have meds in them but they’re “fake” in the sense that they aren’t what they claim to be).

If it makes any decisions easier possession isn’t illegal
In any jurisdiction on the nyc area and the port authority (who run the airports) has explicitly said that since they can’t refer people to local cops for minor possession they are looking the other way at everything but serious weight.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 3:28 PM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

It absolutely violates federal law to send cannabis products by US Mail. Big time. Never do that.
posted by spitbull at 5:58 PM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

Great Barrington MA now has like four dispensaries, not just a Theory (the first to open on the NY/Mass border, it did unbelievable business over the first two years). And there is a trailways or Peter Pan bus from Port Authority to GB, albeit it’s a 3 hour ride. (2.5 in a car). The bus stops about a quarter mile from two brand new dispensaries, one in either direction on Main St, but Theory (the best known and biggest ) is about 2 miles away, not a short walk. There’s a lot of fun stuff in GB (I live nearby) but without a car you’d really just want to walk the downtown area. That’s a long day for gummies.

Mass limits the total you can buy per day per person at any one dispensary, although for edibles it’s a substantial amount. You can just go to the next dispensary to repeat the process. New Yorkers buying in bulk for all their friends are doing just that, also hitting the several dispensaries in Pittsfield (20 miles or so north). It has been a damn gold rush, but it’s tapered off a bit finally. At a large enough scale it starts to make the time and expense worth it for folks. So maybe make a friend with a car and take orders.

But you’ll also find NYC black market prices are similar to — sometimes lower than — Mass dispensary prices, which are still obscene and greedy. Locals mostly grow it themselves in the Berkshires, as Mass has generous allowances for that.

Ask me why I live there.
posted by spitbull at 6:12 PM on September 22, 2021

Oh and I see you are based in Taipei. Be sure you have a valid government ID if you trek to Massachusetts. I’m not sure a foreign passport would work.

Also it’s much better to preorder online with the Mass dispensaries that offer that — Theory being one.
posted by spitbull at 7:18 PM on September 22, 2021

If you are coming to Mass via transit, it might makes more sense to come to Springfield than Great Barrington. Not nearly as scenic, but at least you can take the train. It's a hike, probably 3-4 hours each way, so it's going to be an all day affair. I don't know Springfield well, but there are bunch of places there now and I'm sure it would be an easy walk or Uber from the train station to one of them.
posted by Shellybeans at 5:27 AM on September 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

Uber service is of course available in Great Barrington or Springfield. Given what you’ll be paying for the THC, $20 on a taxi is small change.

Personally I’d be fine trusting NYC black market edibles. But then I smoked NYC black market flower for like 30 years of my life, albeit for many of those years I bought in, ummm, bulk quantities (never less than a QP) from a highly trusted source and got west coast/legal state quality flower in pristine condition. Cost less than legal does now in the northeast. I’m still alive to tell the tale.

You can grow it legally now for pennies a gram and it’s better than commercial.
posted by spitbull at 4:28 AM on September 24, 2021

And oh yeah Delta-8 products are indeed all over NYC being sold “legally” by every CBD (which, lol) boutique.

I’ve never tried Delta-8 stuff but I hear from people I trust that it gets you pretty high. Can’t imagine it will fly under the legal/taxable radar for long though.
posted by spitbull at 6:00 AM on September 26, 2021