Civic leaders in New York City this week promised increased action to address the proliferation of unlicensed marijuana retailers, just weeks after regulated sales of adult-use cannabis began in the nation’s most populous city. At a meeting of the New York City Council on Wednesday, officials pledged increased enforcement against unlicensed cannabis retailers and said that the state legislature is drafting new legislation to give law enforcement additional powers to shut down illicit pot shops.

“We know there is an illegal cannabis store, van or street vendor on what seems like every block in New York,” Councilwoman Gale Brewer, chair of the Council’s Oversight and Investigations Committee, said during the hearing of the council’s Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection.

“The proliferation of cannabis retailers over the last 22 months has gone almost unchecked by the city and state,” she added in a statement quoted by the Daily News. “These illegal stores, it seems to me, suck up revenue that should be going to licensed dispensaries.”

Task Force Found 1,200 Illicit Pot Shops in New York City

In December, New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched a pilot interagency task force to address the growing number of unlicensed retailers. The task force, which includes the Sheriff’s Office, the NYPD, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and the Office of Cannabis Management, has identified at least 1,200 unlicensed marijuana shops in the city. Brewer said that an analysis by city council staff had revealed 11 unlicensed shops selling cannabis within a 10-block radius of the city’s first licensed retailer.

“The tidal wave of unlicensed sellers in the state’s largest market threatens to undermine – I’m afraid – the laudable effort” made by the state’s cannabis legalization law.” Brewer said.

At Wednesday’s hearing, officials with the city’s Sheriff’s Office, the NYPD, the Department of Health and other local agencies appeared to speak with council members about the number of unlicensed cannabis retailers setting up shop in the city. NYC Sheriff Anthony Miranda said that about 600 pounds of weed has been confiscated from the illicit stores, resulting in referrals for civil action and criminal prosecution.

“The task force is continuing, our operations are increasing, we are doubling – if not tripling – the enforcement that we have,” Miranda said. “We want them to know the type of enforcement that’s going on so that they understand that we’re not going away.”

State Senator Promises New Legislation

State Senator Liz Krueger, who was the lead sponsor of New York’s cannabis legalization bill in the Senate, said during a public comment period that she understands the frustration caused by unlicensed retailers. She added that lawmakers would take new action on enforcement during the 2023 legislative session.

“We are going to be implementing new, expanded laws that give the state more tools, and our police departments and our sheriffs and our marshalls,” Krueger said, adding that the unlicensed shops are “harming the entire model that we’ve been trying to build and establish across the state.”

Elliot Choi, chief knowledge officer at the cannabis and psychedelics law firm Vicente Sederberg LLP, said that illegal dispensaries must be addressed for the legal market to have a viable chance at success in New York.

“There are costs that go into obtaining and maintaining a legal cannabis dispensary that illegal dispensaries are bypassing,” Choi wrote in an email to High Times. “It creates an unfair advantage since the illegal dispensaries can sell cannabis products cheaper, especially not collecting any taxes.”

Choi also noted that unlicensed cannabis retailers pose a danger to unwitting consumers.

“Many consumers mistakenly believe the illegal dispensaries are licensed and therefore, the products they are selling are safe,” said Choi. “But that isn’t the case as the illegal dispensaries are in many instances selling unregulated products that have been shown to be contaminated.”  

Mark Sims, president and CEO of cannabis goods company RIV Capital, agreed, noting that an investigative report examining products from illicit operators in New York last year showed that illicit products being sold had a 100% fail rate under the state’s cannabis testing standards and contained dangerous toxins including heavy metals and E.Coli.

“The report highlighted one of the primary reasons it is so important for state regulators to work with local government and law enforcement to shut down illicit operations,” Sims told High Times. “It’s great to see New York City Council and law enforcement take these public health concerns seriously, and we encourage state cannabis regulators to do more to assist with these efforts to shut down the illicit market. There is certainly more work to be done here to protect consumers – but this is a step in the right direction.”

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NYC launched a task force to weed out unlicensed dispensaries. They seized 100,000 products and $4 million in two weeks.

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If you don’t see this stamp on a package or retail store, you’re smoking at your own risk.

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A Brooklyn shop was raided for selling cannabis without a license. With dispensary licenses going out Monday, this is only the beginning.

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The mayor couldn’t control his joy after catching a whiff of weed during a press conference in the Manhattan. This is how elected leaders should handle the fragrance of freedom.

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Nick Kyrgios stopped his match yesterday to complain about marijuana odors. We want to know: Who had the loud?

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At an appearance at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition (CWCBExpo) held June 1 – 3 in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams spoke on Friday and told millions of New Yorkers to “light up.” He told attendees to support even unlicensed businesses during the gray area time period until New York’s market matures.

Mayor Adams was announced as the keynote speaker at the New York CWCBExpo in a press release last month. Other headline speakers included Chris Beals of Weedmaps and Nick Kovacevich of Greelane Holdings. In addition, Tremaine Wright, the Chair of the NYS Cannabis Control Board, shared a rule update.

The mayor did not beat around the bush, as conference attendees were anxious to know what the market will look like. “Enjoy yourself, light up, but most importantly—spend some money,” the Mayor said.

According to Governor Kathy Hochul’s fiscal 2023 spending plan, the state is expected to rake in $1.25 billion in cannabis revenue over the next six years.

While New York’s adult-use retail market hasn’t officially kicked off, locals say there are secret and not-so-secret clubs, trucks, and gifting shops open for business all over that have been popping up since the state approved adult-use in March 2021.

The mayor went on further, saying that he doesn’t plan on cracking down during the transition stage which appears to be in the gray area. “‘Listen, you can’t do this,’ give them a warning,” said Adams. In addition, Adams allocated $5 million in funding from his executive budget to provide the needed boost for New Yorkers to apply for adult-use cultivation licenses.

He also hinted that simple cannabis crimes will be dealt with as a slap on the wrist, providing a few hints to the specifics. “If they refuse to adhere to the rules, then you have to come back and take some form of enforcement actions, such as a summons, such as, you know, talking about their ability to sell alcohol.”

Before becoming the 110th Mayor of New York City, Adams served in the New York Police Department (NYPD) as a cop. In his extended bio, Adams said he chose to join the NYPD because of an earlier incident of police brutality. Adams “was beaten by police in the basement of a precinct house at 15,” but instead of being defeated, he eventually joined the force himself to make changes and decrease the amount of racism in police forces.

Adams even acknowledged the weed trucks that are all over the place in New York City, which are not yet licensed.

“We need to incentivize those who have their illegal trucks or have the trucks going on to show them that this is a better pathway,” he said. “The goal is to not leave people behind.”

The CWCBExpo also featured specialty show floor areas including the Women Grow Pavilion, University Row featuring leading academic cannabis curriculums and programs, and the “LGBTQ+ Proud Mary Lounge.”

A lot of legislative updates were also part of the program. The day before Mayor Adams spoke at the CWCBExpo, the New York Senate, led by Senator Liz Krueger, passed a bill that would have launched a crackdown on illicit cannabis possession and sales. That bill needed approval from the state Assembly before the end of last week to move forward. But Friday came and went, without a vote, stalling the bill until next year.

Earlier this month, New York regulators approved draft regulations that will determine marketing rules under the New York Cannabis Control Board. New York’s market is ready to launch late this year or in early 2023, and New York’s mayor is certainly onboard.

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s call to use the rooftops of public housing as cannabis greenhouse spaces looks like a pipe dream for now. 

The website Gothamist reported on Monday that a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which provides funding for New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), “said Adams’ office hasn’t yet reached out to the federal agency about the mayor’s idea for public-housing rooftops.” 

“There isn’t much more to say, marijuana is illegal in public housing,” the spokesperson told Gothamist.

Speaking during a conference panel last week, Adams, who took office as New York City mayor in January, said his administration wants to “examine the possibilities of having a greenhouse space on NYCHA rooftops to grow cannabis.”

As reported by Gothamist, Adams was discussing “the challenges of cultivating cannabis in a densely populated metropolis like New York City,” and that a “way to circumvent that issue, he said, is by embracing hydroponic greenhouses on buildings throughout the city—including those owned by NYCHA.”

“The jobs can come from NYCHA residents. The proceeds and education can go right into employing people right in the area,” Adams said at the conference, as quoted by Gothamist. 

Adams’ comments came amid the state of New York’s ongoing preparations for the launch of its new adult-use cannabis market later this year. 

Last week, the state’s Cannabis Control Board announced that it had approved the first round of cultivation licenses for the adult-use program, with the opening 52 going to New York farmers who were already growing hemp.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s office said that those farmers “must adhere to quality assurance, health, and safety requirements developed by the [Office of Cannabis Management],” and “must also take part in sustainability and equity mentorship programs that will help build the first generation of equity cannabis owners across the entire supply chain.”

“New York’s farms have been the backbone of our state’s economy since before the American Revolution, and now, New York’s farms will be at the center of the most equitable cannabis industry in the nation,” Hochul said in announcing the licenses. “I’m proud to announce the first adult-use cannabis cultivation licenses in the state, and I’m proud of the work the Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board are doing to get adult-use cannabis sales up and running as fast as possible without compromising our mission to uplift communities and individuals most impacted by the past century of cannabis prohibition.” 

But while more than a dozen states like New York have taken steps to legalize recreational pot use for adults, cannabis remains illegal on the federal level.

That gap in laws has posed dilemmas to state-level cannabis businesses, as well as state governments trying to institute their own pot laws.

Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, a spokesperson for Mayor Adams, told Gothamist that federal cannabis “laws still on the books continue to harm the same communities that have been targeted for decades.” But Lutvak expressed optimism following the passage of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act in the House of Representatives earlier this month.

The bill would deschedule cannabis on the federal level, ending the prohibition on cannabis. Democrats in the U.S. Senate have said they intend to produce their own legalization bill prior to the Congressional recess in August. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had previously said that the chamber planned to release its cannabis bill this month.

“The House passed legislation to this effect earlier this month, and we need those who are obstructing progress at the federal level to follow New York’s lead,” Lutvak told Gothamist.

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