This is not the weed you, your father or perhaps even your grandfather purchased in dime bags in Harvard Square or Saint Mark’s Place.
“Who knows what they were smoking?” asks Josh Silver, a lawyer and part-time Bolton Landing resident whose latest cannabis dispensary, his parent company’s ninth and its third in New York State, recently opened among the outlet malls in Queensbury, south of Lake George Village.
“Our product has been tested for contaminants, heavy metals, pesticides. It’s certified by New York State as being free of those,” said Silver.
According to Silver, roughly 50% of the dispensary’s marijuana is pot – high grade pot, to be sure, but pot nonetheless. The remainder is manufactured for consumption as edibles, tinctures, concentrates, beverages, etc.
And unlike the head shops of the sixties, whose shadowy interiors were meant to convey an attitude or a posture at least as transgressive as illegal drug use, Silver’s Lake George dispensary is as clinical as a pharmacy.
A graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Silver was intrigued by Colorado’s vote to legalize the sale of marijuana to adults for non-medical purposes, so much so that he decided to explore the feasibility of entering the industry.
“It wasn’t that radical a break from the practice of law,” he says. “As a land use attorney, you develop the expertise and the experience to address regulatory and zoning issues, permitting procedures and community outreach.”
Silver and his partners opened Silver Therapeutics’ first store in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 2019. They now own and operate three dispensaries in Massachusetts, two in Maine, one in Bennington, Vermont, and one each in Albany and Saratoga and now Queensbury. Since Silver is not a retail store operator, but, rather a corporate officer, the license to operate the local cannabis dispensary is held by his mother-in-law, Charlene Wood.
Silver Therapeutics’ Williamstown store was among the first to open in Massachusetts and that community’s experience – that of an early adopter – guided the company as it expanded into other towns and states.
“We showed that a cannabis dispensary can becomes part of the fabric of the community, and that it won’t diminish the quality of life for those who have no interest in it,” said Silver. “The lesson is, there is something for everyone.”
According to Silver, the new dispensary is designed to serve a broad population and a wide spectrum of consumer preferences and tastes; from tourists to summer and year-round residents; from experienced to casual users, including those who merely want a sleep aid and those who want to unwind with a beverage on the dock.
“Our bud tenders will help you make an appropriate selection from the range of products we offer,” said Silver. “We demystify the process.”
Josh Silver, his family and his partners will host a grand opening for the new dispensary, which is located at 1471 US Route 9, on Friday, June 27 at 10 am.
