Indoor cannabis cultivation in Orange County. Photo by Lana Bellamy / Times Union.

The Cannabis Control Board’s recent decision to allow cultivators like us to grow cannabis indoors may seem like a small regulatory change. But for small-scale farmers across the state, it’s a critical turning point. And for me personally, it means I can invest further in my community, create jobs and compete on fairer terms.

I was one of the first licensed cannabis cultivators in New York, and we’re one of the few minority-owned growing operations in the state. I built my business from the ground up in Allegany County — one of the poorest regions in New York — transforming a former hobby vineyard into a commercial farm. When the state promised that legalization would create an equitable, homegrown cannabis industry, I believed it. So I invested.........

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