Can't wait for 420? Cannabis dispensary in Rockland offers delivery ahead of April opening

An adult cannabis dispensary that's among Rockland County’s first to receive a state license has launched delivery service and plans a spring Nyack village store opening.

Treehouse Cannabis delivers throughout Rockland, according to its website.

"Bringing safe, legal cannabis right to your doorstep," said Seth Marks, Treehouse Cannabis' owner.

Delivery is Monday through Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Online orders can be placed 24/7 through Tree House’s website by debit card, credit card or DutchiePay. All orders must be prepaid. Customers can also schedule future-day deliveries.

Minimum purchase for delivery is $75, according to Treehouse’s website. There’s a $5 delivery free. Delivery is free for orders of $150 or more.

Products offered include edibles, tinctures, vaporizers, pre-rolls, flower, topicals, and concentrates. Customers must be at least 21 years old and have valid ID ready at time of delivery, which is required to complete an order, according to Tree House’s website. Accepted are a valid government-issued ID, driver’s license, passport, military ID, all with photograph and birth date.

A car dealership Marks owned will be transformed into the cannabis dispensary, on Route 59.

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Marks said that he got calls from a friend years ago who told him about the state approving a conditional license. Under state law, a type of certification to sell recreational marijuana to adults is called a conditional license — the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) program — and aims to help people who’ve been disparately affected by marijuana prohibitions and incarceration in the past to enter the legal cannabis industry.

In late 2021, for instance, state officials approved the first such licenses: 28 CAURD licenses were approved for state residents who had been affected by biased enforcement of the years of marijuana prohibitions. Another eight were OK'd for nonprofit entities that had helped incarcerated people.

Eligibility required that a person have had a cannabis conviction or have a family member who had one. The person must also own a profitable business. Nonprofit entities had to have a history of working with current or former people who were, in the law's parlance, "justice-involved."

Marks said that he had sold marijuana decades ago and was incarcerated for six months, and after that Marks put his energy into the car business and became successful at it.

"My whole life had changed; I learned how to live a much more peaceful life," he said, adding: "You know, everything started going really good."

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Marks owns the building where his car dealership is and said that, after considering things, opted to pursue the cannabis dispensary license.

People of legal age can possess up to three ounces of cannabis and up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis for personal use, under state law. An adult may smoke or vape cannabis generally where tobacco is allowed. Cannabis use is forbidden in motor vehicles, even if parked, or in restaurants’ outdoor dining areas.

A legal challenge had for a time halted dispensaries from obtaining licenses: Four disabled veterans claimed in a lawsuit that regulators "unjustly awarded dispensary licenses" to businesses. But the suit was settled in late November, and hundreds of dispensaries could open in the state in coming months.

In Westchester County, Elevate Cannabis Dispensary held its grand opening celebration on Tuesday. Elevate opened in December, and like Treehouse, also offers a home delivery service.

Treehouse Cannabis is set to open in April, on "420".

Journal News photographer and videographer Peter Carr contributed to this report.

Michael McKinney covers growth and development in Westchester County and the Lower Hudson Valley for The Journal News and USA Today Network.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rockland cannabis dispensary launches home delivery ahead of 420 opening