Samantha Christmann
Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra has been a vocal proponent of cannabis for a long time.
“I think the headline was ‘Giambra wants to legalize drugs’ or something like that. Twenty years ago, that was like dropping a bomb on the Buffalo Zoo,” Giambra said. “We took some criticism. A lot of criticism.”
Now, public opinion – and New York State law – have come around to his way of thinking, and Giambra is co-owner of a new state-licensed recreational cannabis dispensary called Honey at 2981 Delaware Ave. in Kenmore with business partner Darcell Thomas.
Thomas’ past cannabis conviction in New York State made the pair eligible for the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary program, which granted dispensary licenses to justice-involved people as an attempt to redress communities harmed by the war on drugs.
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“I have been publicly fighting prohibition of cannabis and in prohibition in general. As a student of history, it’s obvious that any attempts at prohibition in the past have been public failures,” Giambra said.
As a politician, he got a front row seat to see what happens when you “put people in jail for a
