High Points Dispensary Hosting 4/19 Parking Lot Party in Geneva

Darryl Hilkert — High Points Dispensary
Paul Szmal 4:31
The "High Points Dispensary" sign is displayed on a building with columns, likely a drive-thru entrance.
The High Points Dispensary sign is visible on its building in the Finger Lakes region, a local cannabis business featured in news reports.
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With 4/20 falling on Easter Sunday this year, High Points Dispensary in Geneva is moving its annual celebration to Saturday, April 19 — and they’re going big with a parking lot party featuring vendors, food trucks, and live music from noon to 6 p.m.

Darryl Hilkert, who represents High Points Dispensary at 520 Route 5 & 20 in Geneva (next door to Denny’s), stopped by the FLX Morning studio Tuesday to talk about the upcoming event and to break down the basics of New York State cannabis growing laws.

The 4/19 event will mirror last year’s outdoor party and include promotional giveaways along with the food and entertainment. Hilkert noted that most customers will likely be with family on Easter Sunday itself, making the Saturday event the practical choice for the dispensary’s signature annual celebration.

On the topic of home growing, Hilkert explained that New York State residents are legally permitted to grow their own cannabis — up to three plants per person, with a household maximum of six mature (flowering) plants and six seedlings for two adults, totaling 12 plants. The distinction between the two categories allows growers to stagger their cultivation cycle rather than having all plants at the same stage simultaneously.

However, growing cannabis at home for sale is not legal without a New York State cultivator license. Licensed dispensaries like High Points are also required to purchase exclusively from state-licensed cultivators. Hilkert noted that New York is implementing a seed-to-sale tracking system that follows cannabis from planting through harvest, packaging, and delivery to dispensaries — including mandatory testing for heavy metals and harmful chemicals after harvest.

High Points Dispensary is located at 520 Routes 5 & 20 in Geneva, in a former bank building. For more information on the April 19 event, contact the dispensary directly.

Read Full Transcript

Paul Szmal: It's 7.53 on FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. Our cannabis correspondent Darrell Helker from High Points Dispensary in Geneva joins us in studio this morning. Hey, bud. How are you?

Darryl Hilkert: Hey, Paul. How are you doing today?

Paul Szmal: I am doing well. Doing well. We wanted to talk a little bit today about the whole concept of growing. Not only growing to sell, but growing your own. Is it legal to actually grow your own now in New York State?

Darryl Hilkert: Yes, it is. Residents of New York State, it's legal for them to grow their own cannabis. There is a limit to it. Three plants per person and vagin three in the start of growth, and you can do six and six for two different people. So you're limited to 12 plants with two adults. Six can be in veg and six in seedling.

Paul Szmal: What's the difference between those two, between the veg and seedling?

Darryl Hilkert: Once one is into the portion of finishing up where it's into the bud stage and ending, so that way you can rotate your cannabis. So you don't have to have it all together at the same time. You can stagger out your growing process.

Paul Szmal: Correct. And you're limited to that.

Darryl Hilkert: Right. And that's the way New York State has it. The law's written.

Paul Szmal: Okay. Now, when it comes to growing for sale, you have to be a licensed grower in this state.

Darryl Hilkert: Correct. You have to have a New York State cultivator license in order to grow to sell. And that gives you the opportunity to grow more plants and generate more product out of those plants.

Paul Szmal: Oh, yeah. Those people are doing that as a business, and those are the folks that we get our products from, the licensed cultivators that grow. Those are the only people we're allowed to purchase from.

Darryl Hilkert: Okay. That was my next question, was you have to purchase, because you're a licensed dispensary, you have to buy from growers that are licensed or sell product from growers that are licensed in order to be able to sell the product.

Paul Szmal: Correct. And there's a lot of people out there that like to grow just because they have a green thumb. They like to do it. They like gardening. New York State is huge on gardening. Everybody usually has their own garden of vegetables and stuff at their home, and some people like to grow cannabis. Some enjoy it just for the enjoyment of it. There are people that grow it that don't even smoke it, but unfortunately, it's not legal for them to sell that.

Darryl Hilkert: Right. Right. You have to be a licensed dispensary to be able to sell the product. And again, licensed dispensary means you're buying from people who are licensed to generate the product.

Paul Szmal: Correct. And as it's grown, New York State is starting to do a seed to sale, where they track that seed from the time it's planted all the way through harvest, and then to packaging and to us. Everything goes through testing after harvest to make sure no bad chemicals or anything were ever used during the growth, you know, stuff to blow up the plants, stuff that could be harmful, you know, hard metals and stuff like that.

Darryl Hilkert: Yeah, I know dispensaries are getting ready for what may be one of the bigger weekends of the year next weekend, because 4-20 is coming up, but 4-20 falls on Easter this year.

Paul Szmal: It does. So yeah, a lot of people, including ourselves, we're doing our party on the 4-19. We'll have promotions and giveaways and all kinds of stuff like that. We're actually doing a parking lot party again, similar to what we did last year. We'll have vendors and food trucks and some live music and all that from 12-6 on Saturday the 19th. And then most people will be with their families on Sunday for Easter on 4-20.

Darryl Hilkert: Yeah, Easter fell late this year, didn't it?

Paul Szmal: It sure is, yeah.

Darryl Hilkert: So again, you said noon until...

Paul Szmal: Noon-6. Noon-6 on the 19th. That's High Points Dispensary, by the way, which is on 5-20 in Geneva. Used to be a bank building, now is a dispensary.

Darryl Hilkert: Yep. Right next door to Denny's.

Paul Szmal: Absolutely.

Darryl Hilkert: All right, I appreciate you stopping in and filling us in this morning, man.

Paul Szmal: Thank you, as always.

Darryl Hilkert: Great. Thanks for having me. Good to see you. Have a good day.

Paul Szmal: All right.