Cannabis consumer advocacy booth debuts at State Fair

There’s a historic first at the Great New York State Fair this year — a cannabis consumer advocacy booth.

“Cannabis is an agricultural product,” said Herb Barbot, the chair for the Empire State Green Standard Alliance. “And this is an agricultural fair. So we’re really honored to be here.”

Inside the horticulture building at the State Fair is the Empire State Green Standard Alliance booth. The organization works to advocate for cannabis consumers. Barbot says they’ve been talking with a diverse group of fairgoers about all things cannabis related.

“Some people have talked to us about how cannabis has been medically, you know, helpful to them, to their parents,” Barbot said. “They’ve talked about their own cannabis home-grown; they’ve talked about their experiences as young people. So it’s just been a really great exchange.”

Being able to talk with consumers gives them a better idea of what work they can do to help promote policies.

“Without consumers, there would be no cannabis industry,” said Linda Baldwin, board member for the Empire State Green Standard Alliance. “And there is, surprisingly, a lack of data and information about them. But we are here to meet them, learn about them, enroll more people in our membership so that we can provide that information and represent them adequately. There’s a ton of policies being made as the industry grows.”

Baldwin says there are many things that impact consumers when it comes to cannabis.

“The quality and safety of products, whether they can read information and get an education about cannabis that meets their needs,” Baldwin said.

Taking things a step further to reach a larger audience, Barbot also has a podcast called Joint Session: Diverse Forces in New York State Cannabis.

“It’s really been, a governmental, a legal, regulatory, business, focus, but podcast,” Barbot said.

As the podcast is now on its third season, Barbot says they’ve moved from just being New York focused and now looking at cannabis across the country because the industry has grown.

“We do things like the State Fair, the stigma, it gets reduced and it becomes normalized,” Barbot said. “I mean, just across the hall from us, we have breweries, we have distilleries, and why shouldn’t we have cannabis at the State Fair?”

You can visit their booth at the fair until Labor Day, Sept. 7.