Buys ‘weed’ locally

By Zander Frost, Chronicle Staff Writer

Last week I bought marijuana at a weed shop in Queensbury.

Well, I bought a sticker and received marijuana as a gift.

I had heard about the store for over a year.

I’d been told that stores like this exploit a loophole.

You buy a sticker and they give you marijuana as a gift.

So you’re not technically buying marijuana.

After enough rumors, I went to see if it was true — that there is an operating “weed” store in Warren County.

The store in this location previously was called BMillzz. It’s not BMillzz anymore — I’m not sure of its name.

The interior is nearly bare — except for one oversized folding chair to the left.

To the right, a mural of a dragon, and a counter. To the back is a wall with a cut-out window and a man sitting behind.

“Have you been here before?” an employee painting the mural asked.

I said no. He told me to pick myself out a sticker and bring it to the counter.

There were hundreds of stickers on the counter — some referencing marijuana, others more random, lots of pop culture.

I picked one with a photo of Shaquille O’Neal reacting to — I believe — eating something spicy.

I brought it to the man in the window.

In front of him was a multitude of marijuana — some four different strains, labelled, with Indica/Sativa and THC percentages.

Plus pre-rolled joints and bags with faux Mega-Warheads branding. I believe they were gummies.

He asked me what I’d like — do I smoke flower, do I smoke vapes?

I asked him some questions. He discussed the differences between indica, sativa, hybrids. Some relax you, some make you hyper, he explained. Eventually, I selected a strain called “jealousy.”

It cost $30 cash for an eighth ounce — 3.5 grams. They’ve got an ATM on site.

I asked them — you guys can sell this?

I was told technically “we’re selling you a sticker.”

“Most expensive sticker you’ll ever purchase,” he added.

On my way out, I started chatting with the other staff member.

I asked if he was the owner.

No, he said. In fact, he said, the other employee had never even met the owner.

He told me that the previous shop — BMillzz, had been shut down.

He said BMillzz has locations across the state that I could look them up online.

This shop has two locations, he said, the other also in Queensbury.

I told him I was with The Chronicle.

He was not looking for publicity.

“I don’t necessarily think you should throw it in The Chronicle,” he said. “I don’t know if they want that kind of attention.”

I asked him — do they get hassled? By law enforcement or otherwise?

He said a State Trooper stopped by the previous week, investigating a nearby break-in.

“We’re not their problem until we’re made to be their problem,” he said.

He said that when New York State formed the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), it also formed a Cannabis enforcement branch that “overstepped their boundaries…illegal searches and seizures.”

He claimed that over 200 cases have reached the Supreme Court.

“Basically, they’ve been shut down to a point where they can’t even sneeze without getting in trouble,” he said.

“So if the OCM does decide to go after somebody, they have to call on the local municipality. They call in the Sheriff, the State Trooper, the ATF,” he said.

“They like to do that whole multiple branch thing so they can step on all the rights,” he chuckled.

Is he worried about the place getting raided?

“The worst thing that will happen is they’ll shut this place down,” he said.

He said that when BMillzz was shut down, “all of the smoke shops started selling [marijuana]. It’s like the hydra effect. Cut off the head, you got nine more.”

He said he thinks cannabis will ultimately split between people who want the “connoisseur” experience, and others who want “less pretentious places.”

He compared it to microbreweries, wine and cigars.

I asked if I could get his first name.

No way, he said. “I’m trying to stay married.”

He did tell me I could quote him on one specific issue. “The reason that places like this are thriving in existence is because the vast number of New Yorkers — most New Yorkers — are tired of waiting for the state to figure out how to steal enough from them.”

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