Actor Malik Yoba has big plans for the legal weed scene in New York
The former New York undercover detective shares his lifelong love for the plant with Leafly as the Empire State prepares for legalization.
In the 1990s, Yoba starred as detective JC Williams on the hit Fox drama New York Undercover. He also had a role as a Jamaican bobsledder in the classic comedy Cool Runnings. Since then, Yoba has been busy writing and acting on hit shows like Empire and Girlfriends, while venturing out to participate in the much-anticipated legal cannabis market in New York.
Leafly caught up with the veteran artist in New Orleans at the Black CannaConference, where he shared his feelings about how legal weed will impact his hometown of New York City. Yoba also spoke about his plans to destigmatize cannabis on the big and small screen, leveraging his decades of experience in media and real estate.
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Meets Malik Yoba in New Orleans
When I met with Malik in late 2021, he was one of the keynote speakers at the Black CannaConference in New Orleans. He told me this was only his second cannabis conference ever, adding that he felt “like a student”.
With years of experience in film and television, Yoba has considerable expertise and talent to bring to the burgeoning field of legal cannabis. Speaking on a panel at the conference, Yoba revealed plans to enter the cannabis industry. “I’ve always been interested in cannabis,” he told me in a one-on-one after his panel. “I’ve known cannabis all my life. Sure since I was a kid.”
The first time Yoba used cannabis was in middle school. “I was 12 or 13,” he recalls. “It was always about relaxation. But I don’t know if people even realized what they were doing it for.”
“It was also about being an artist,” he adds. “It’s a tradition you hear about. My father was a jazz musician. He smoked weed. His friends did. It was just around. I only recently thought about it for medicinal purposes. As I mentioned on stage, I now use it for pain management and also for sleeping.”
With legal weed on the horizon in his home state, the Bronx native still laughs as he recalls the amount of stress that once came with the plant.
“I tried selling once in high school,” he recalls. “This guy who was dealing on the street in Washington Square Park dropped his whole bag. It was like bushweed with a bunch of seeds and sticks. I took it but I was too scared to sell it.”
On the opportunities he sees for the NYC legal cannabis market
New York will soon be home to one of the world’s largest legal weed markets. And Yoba is optimistic about its ability to help expand the industry. He wants to destigmatize the plant on screen and behind the scenes by opening up career opportunities in cannabis.
“(We) see the writing on the wall, man,” he tells me as we discuss the possibilities of legal marijuana in Gotham City. “There’s just too much money. New York is the financial capital of the country. So I’m happy to be a part of it. Especially from the real estate side.”
The cannabis industry has already generated a tremendous amount of jobs (see our job report) and taxpayers’ money in legalized states. But New York’s commercial and cultural impact is different. And Yoba believes that green could bring a new golden age to his city.
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“What I appreciate about what’s happening is that people think differently about the business. People say, ‘I don’t have to do just one thing.’” His passion boils over when he talks about the plethora of additional opportunities available in the legal cannabis industry.
“It’s good to see that people want more than just getting a pharmacy. There’s the legal aspect. There’s the marketing aspect. There’s the media aspect… There’s the breeders, distribution, construction… There’s a whole ecosystem.”
– Malik Yoba on the diverse opportunities in the legal cannabis industry in New York
Selling pickaxes during the Gold Rush has been a tried and tested business strategy for centuries. And Yoba intends to use his real estate and media skills to guide others into the rich field of legal weed he sees clearly in front of him once the plant can be legally swapped out.
“(People) share information. They say, ‘I don’t have to do just one thing.’” He continues, “Since the flower itself was the point of entry for most people, they forget about all the other stuff.”
About New York’s approach to social justice
“We weren’t really invited to the party on the same level,” Yoba says of Black and Brown’s reception in other legal states. But so far, he’s pleased with the New York City Cannabis Bureau and its approach to maximizing access and social justice in the industry.
“What I hear from the state is all the efforts that are being made to ensure there is more equity and inclusion. Especially the hundreds of licenses reserved for people who had time.”
Yoba is deeply committed to giving back to the communities that have sacrificed to make the current industry possible.
“For most of us (in the cannabis industry) it’s missionary work. People don’t just go to the job to do the job, they say, ‘I’m going to live up to my expectations and make my money. But I’ll make sure to bring our people with me.’”
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Barriers to entry such as real estate and access to capital have led to legal oligopolies in states like Florida, which have fewer than 20 licensed retailers. But the New York City Bureau of Cannabis Management and residents like Yoba are determined not to allow a similar scenario to happen.
“I care about the freedom of our people,” Yoba told me at the Black CannaConference. “We need to know that certain things are possible.”
On its potential to impact NYC’s legal cannabis industry
Yoba does not intend to be a buyer in this emerging field. He wants to use his diverse talents (both in media and as a property developer) to help the entire industry grow.
In the next five years he wants to “help a lot of people [get in the door] and wants to be a ground floor leader in building America’s next great industry. “We heard about Prohibition back in the 1920s,” he says. “They knew it was only a matter of time.”
That’s why he’s already working to secure a few locations around the city for legal cannabis companies. And he’s confident in the will of the state and people that within the next decade NYC will grow as big as California.
Yoba says he is privy to plans for the state’s first 150 dispensary locations. And he’s confident that the Office of Cannabis Management and incoming Gov. Kathy Hochul will be able to avoid the bumps in the road that other states have encountered since legalization.
Fulfilling the dream of a greener New York
Yoba, like many New York residents, initially had trouble imagining how the legal cannabis industry would develop.
Some residents snarl less optimistically as medical and recreational shoppers patiently await the sluggish launch of the legal market. But Yoba sees firsthand that it takes time to build a successful market anywhere — let alone a state that’s home to the financial capital of the world.
“Now I look at it from the business side. There are people who have been successfully positioning themselves in this area for years, sometimes for over a decade.” And the more I started to pay attention to friends who nudge me to this room.” So far he is with a childhood friend at the CBD beverage company.
“When it became legal in New York, I said, ‘Let me take a look.’ And then recently I jumped in with both feet… I have a stake in a company called So Cloud Water, which is a CBD drink,” he told me, before adding, “There are already big drink companies trying to get into that side of the enter the industry.”
Ultimately, Yoba wants to influence this wide-open field on as many levels as possible. “I think these stories are important, not just from a documentary point of view, but also from a fictional point of view.” He says he has “a few movie ideas (and) series ideas” related to cannabis that will remove the scars that are still there stay around the plant.
His plan is to attack the Stigmas “from all levels. So at a certain point, it becomes ubiquitous wherever you look. And it’s not that weird thing anymore.”
mehka king
Mehka King has spent his professional career as a journalist and content creator. Since 2017, he has polled cannabis activists, politicians, business leaders, athletes and entertainers on their views on cannabis for the CashColorCannabis.com network.
Check out Mehka King’s articles
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