Head & Heal Among First to Receive License to Grow Adult-Use Cannabis

Head & Heal, a Rev member company since 2018, has received licensure from New York’s Cannabis Control Board to grow adult-use marijuana. Head & Heal is one of the first New York hemp cultivators to receive the state’s first conditional cultivator licenses.

In February 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation creating conditional licenses for established hemp cultivators. The law also created temporary licenses to help fast-track the opening of the state’s adult-use cannabis market and to benefit New York-based farmers looking to enter the industry.

Allan Gandelman, owner and operator of Head & Heal and president of the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association (NYCGPA), is celebrating this milestone for New York’s emerging cannabis market.

“This is a historic moment, I think, both for the New York hemp and cannabis community, and nationally,” Gandelman said. “Licensing existing farmers to be the first cultivators, to start the supply chain before dispensaries open, I think is a huge win.”

The conditional licenses allow businesses to begin cultivating cannabis outside or in a greenhouse with up to 20 artificial grow lights.

“This license will be framed, and it will be on my wall,” Gandelman said. “In like 50 or 100 years … someone will see this license, and say, ‘This is the day that prohibition ended in New York.’ ”

Gandelman has played a major role in lobbying for conditional licensing in his work for NYCGPA. The organization included licensing in the legislative agenda it released in January of this year. Learn more about Head & Heal and the recent victory for the cannabis market in New York.