Cannabis Cup Winner Craig Palmer Took 6 Point From Illicit to Legal in New York

For Craig Palmer, ending up in High Times still feels slightly unreal. He’s been reading the magazine since he was a teenager. Now, after placing in the first official High Times New York Cannabis Cup, he’s part of the story instead of just flipping through it.

Palmer isn’t a newcomer riding legalization hype. He’s been growing cannabis for three decades—long before New York had licenses, compliance systems, or dispensary buildouts. 6 Point Cannabis, his brand, is less a business invention and more an extension of a life built around the plant.

That distinction matters in a state still figuring out who gets to win. Palmer represents a version of New York cannabis that existed before the paperwork, and is now fighting to survive inside it.

Palmer’s story starts in Rochester, where he attended Rochester Institute of Technology in the mid-’90s. Cannabis wasn’t just illegal—it was life-altering if you got caught.

“I started growing cannabis when I was 20. And I never stopped,” Palmer says.

What sounds simple now wasn’t then. Growing meant constant paranoia, real legal exposure, and a lifestyle shaped by risk.

“We were facing 15 year felonies for what is now legal,” he says.

Those years weren’t romantic. They were tense, exhausting, and defining. But they also built the foundation—skills, genetics, relationships—that still power 6 Point today.

“It introduced me to people that I’m still very, very close friends with and brothers with,” Palmer says.

That legacy isn’t branding. It’s infrastructure.

6 Point Cannabis doesn’t read like a market-tested concept. It’s personal, and Palmer makes that clear.

“We base our brand on being a very spiritually forward company that is looking to bring the community together and bring a healthy product to the market,” he says.

The name itself comes from sacred geometry—a six-point symbol tied to patterns Palmer sees as foundational to life. That philosophy runs through everything, from cultivation to design.

“We’re not in this because it’s cool. We’re in this because it’s part of our life,” he says.

That kind of conviction stands out in a market crowded with brands that feel reverse-engineered. 6 Point isn’t trying to look authentic—it already was.

Where some brands build identity through packaging, Palmer builds it through genetics.

“All the strains that I entered into… I either pop the seeds or I breed them,” he says.

He doesn’t buy clones. He doesn’t chase trends. His catalog comes from decades of collecting and breeding.

“I create all my own genetics,” Palmer says.

That approach limits scale, but it sharpens identity. In a market where shelves can feel interchangeable, authorship still matters—and Palmer is betting that consumers can tell the difference.

If the underground years were defined by risk, the legal market is defined by friction.

“I thought it was, hey man, I’m going to plug my grow op into the legal system and just start selling legal weed. ” It’s way different than that,” Palmer says.

Instead, the reality is layered with testing, compliance, tracking systems, and rising overhead. The barrier isn’t just growing good cannabis—it’s surviving the system around it.

“People don’t really understand what it takes to put the product to market today,” he says.

Palmer is blunt about New York’s rollout. Too many licenses, too fast. Too much pressure on small operators. Too many advantages for well-funded players.

“I do think New York gave out too many licenses too fast,” he says.

For legacy growers, legalization didn’t erase obstacles—it replaced them.

Through all of it, Palmer keeps coming back to the same thing: the product.

“Flower is king,” he says.

6 Point is primarily flower-focused, with rosin in development through partners. But the emphasis is clear—quality starts and ends with what’s in the jar.

“I pride myself in having some of the best cannabis in New York,” Palmer says.

That confidence isn’t abstract. It’s a survival strategy. In a tightening market, premium flower is one of the few ways smaller operators can stay competitive.

“I’ll pink slip my cannabis next to anyone’s cannabis any day,” he says.

It’s a bold claim, but it’s also the kind of talk that built cannabis culture long before compliance departments got involved.

Palmer’s vision isn’t limited to cultivation. His dispensary in downtown Rochester is part of the larger play—and it’s intentionally different.

“My dispensary is world class… I call it a cannabis spa,” he says.

Instead of sterile retail, he describes a curated space filled with custom woodwork and art. And then there’s the rooftop.

“We have a rooftop access… that overlooks the whole city,” Palmer says.

That rooftop, tied to a planned lounge concept, reflects a bigger idea: cannabis as experience, not just transaction.

It also reflects economics. Selling through third-party dispensaries cuts deep into margins.

“We’re taking a 50% cut, right off the top when you sell it to a dispensary,” he says. Owning the retail experience isn’t just creative—it’s necessary.

For all the challenges, the High Times Cannabis Cup moment cut through. “I have to almost pinch myself to even think that I’m gonna be in the High Times magazine,” Palmer says.

It wasn’t just nostalgia. It was validation. The event itself left an impression too—less ego, more community.

“It was like people were there just to celebrate the plant and the vibration was super high in that room,” he says. More importantly, it moved the needle.

“The amount of people that started following me… was unbelievable how explosive it was,” Palmer says.

In a crowded market, attention still matters—and High Times still carries weight.

Palmer doesn’t pretend the path is easy. He’s self-funded, running a lean team, competing against companies with deeper pockets and larger operations.

“I’m a small mom and pop. I’m self-funded,” he says. Scaling requires serious capital. Staying afloat requires constant pressure. But he’s not backing off. Expansion is on the table. Another Cannabis Cup entry is already planned.

“Next year I will definitely be entering it again,” he says. The tone isn’t hopeful—it’s determined.

Craig Palmer didn’t arrive in cannabis through a business plan. He came up when growing could cost you everything, stayed through decades of risk, and is now navigating a system that still doesn’t quite fit the people who built the culture.

6 Point Cannabis carries that history forward—through genetics, through philosophy, and through a refusal to play it safe.

New York’s legal market is still sorting itself out. The question isn’t just who gets licensed—it’s who lasts.

If Palmer has anything to say about it, the answer will still come down to the flower.

Photos courtesy of 6 Point Cannabis