Why CONBUD believes where you buy cannabis matters

Every purchase is a vote. In legal New York cannabis, it’s also a statement.

When you choose where to shop, you’re deciding what kind of cannabis industry New York will become. You’re choosing which businesses grow, whose stories matter, and who gets to participate.

CONBUD believes legalization wasn’t just about making cannabis legal. It was about creating economic opportunity for the people and neighborhoods that carried the weight of prohibition for generations.

They’re proud to represent the New York that built this culture—not just the boardrooms, but the bodegas, barbershops, parks, neighborhoods, and street corners where cannabis culture lived long before it was legal. Too often, legalization has asked the people who built an industry to watch someone else profit from it. New York chose a different path by creating opportunities for legacy operators and justice-impacted entrepreneurs to become owners and leaders.

That philosophy guides every decision CONBUD makes.

The products on CONBUD shelves aren’t chosen because they’re backed by the biggest budgets. They look for founders with integrity, operators building something real, and brands that strengthen New York’s cannabis ecosystem.

Their commitment to a sustainable cannabis community doesn’t end there. CONBUD donates 13 cents from every transaction to the Kalief Browder Memorial Scholarship Fund, investing in future generations and honoring a New Yorker whose story reminds them why justice must remain at the center of this work.

Walk into CONBUD, and you’ll see that mission reflected in the CONBUD team. Many of their employees are justice-impacted, formerly incarcerated, or come from communities most impacted by the War on Drugs. For the team at CONBUD, second chances mean stable employment, consistent income, responsibility, and opportunities to grow. Many of their employees worked the phones or delivery routes with CONBUD’s founder, Coss, long before legalization. They’re turning lived experience into education and careers.

CONBUD is a better way to support the New York cannabis culture that existed before legalization—with tested products, knowledgeable staff, and a business built by the New Yorkers who lived that history. 

Consumer activism matters, and cannabis is one of the rare industries where consumers can still shape the market since it’s being built. Every purchase at CONBUD helps preserve New York’s culture and supports CAURD operators, small-batch craft producers, and brands that invest locally. Where you spend helps decide who grows, who succeeds, and what legalization becomes.

CONBUD believes New York can prove cannabis legalization can create world-class businesses while expanding opportunity for the communities that built the culture.

Because where New York goes, legal cannabis around the world will follow.

That’s the future CONBUD is building. They hope you’ll build it with them.