Cannabis dispensary planned for Oneonta

Kali Conover, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·3 min read

Apr. 5—DOSHA Farms, a cannabis dispensary, will soon be coming to Main Street in Oneonta, according to its owner.

Korey Rowe said Tuesday that he plans to open the area's first legal dispensary in the same building space as Otsego Media LLC at 76 Main St.

Rowe said he is waiting for the space to be approved. He said the state Office of Cannabis Management has expanded the roll-out of licenses to people who have their own spaces available, in an effort to combat the illegal market. "I've submitted the address and lease with the landlord, showing the right to lease the building. The space matches the criteria; rent is affordable, leaving a profit margin, and it's 500 feet away from a school and 200 feet away from a church," he said.

Rowe said the location will increase foot traffic down to that side of Main Street, supporting other businesses. There is a lack of parking, decreasing potential crime and robbery, he said. The building is also across the street from the police department.

The city of Oneonta has always been pro-cannabis, Rowe said. "I had to make a presentation to the town of Oneonta, and went to the town of Laurens and did the same thing," he said. The towns of Oneonta and Laurens have since opted in to allowing cannabis sales, he said.

Rowe said Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek is supportive of the business getting off the ground, and the police department, state Sen. Peter Oberacker and local government are also supportive.

The dispensary will benefit the community by creating jobs and revenue, he said. "We need new ideas for the community and we need local government and municipalities to support those ideas," he said. Rowe said cannabis is one of those ideas. He said the dispensary will keep people in the area and encourage others to move here.

The dispensary would be the first service-disabled, veteran-owned shop in the area, he said. The mission statement supports cannabis as a treatment for PTSD for veterans who served overseas.

He said cannabis could be a replacement for pharmaceuticals that have led to veteran suicides, and said, "There are many disadvantaged people in the community that can benefit from the market, and I would like to give those individuals an opportunity."

To obtain a license from the OCM, specific criteria must be met, Rowe said. Being a justice-involved person is one of those criteria.

"At 16, I was arrested for having $10 worth of marijuana on me," Rowe said. "The school and BOCES expelled me, and my parents did not allow me to live with them.

"That was when I joined the military," he said. "It was just before Sept. 11, and I was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan."

He said those events taught him to rely on himself and overcome adversity.

"On the 25th anniversary of the arrest, I will be in full operation in a cannabis shop," Rowe said. "Things have really come full circle, and it's quite an ark to complete as a character. I turned the negative into a positive."