Just one of hundreds of illegal dispensaries shut down by the NYPD. Photo Credit: The New York Times.
In March of 2021, New York State officially legalized recreational cannabis with the passing of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA). While the first legal cannabis sale took place in December of 2022, it was still sold all over the state, especially in the city. According to the Center For Advancing Health, New York consumes more cannabis than any city in the world. So it’s no surprise that thousands of unlicensed shops have taken over the streets in all five boroughs, illegally supplying New Yorkers with weed. Meanwhile, those willing to do things the right way dealt with a long and arduous process to get their legal shops up and running.
Almost two years after the state’s first legal cannabis sale, New York City remains flooded with what locals refer to as “weed bodegas.” While there are now over 150 legal retail dispensaries statewide, AP estimates that there are currently around 2,900 unlicensed vendors in New York City. They still overwhelmingly outnumber licensed operators. So how are the city and state cracking down?
The Best Laid Plans…
New York’s legal cannabis rollout took much longer than intended. Photo Credit: Staten Island Advance.
Sometimes the best of intentions can breed unfortunate consequences. When New Yorkers legalized cannabis in 2021, they wanted to do things differently. The idea was to right the wrongs of the past, allowing those previously convicted of cannabis-related offenses first dibs on a dispensary license.
What’s come of it is a logjam, making a long and tedious process even more difficult. It’s no coincidence that the first legal sale of cannabis had to wait 21 months after legalization.
While retailers waited for license approval, thousands of entrepreneurial store owners decided to take advantage of the gap in the market, license or not. That’s how weed bodegas, illegal smoke shops, and other unlicensed locations proliferated, posing as state approved dispensaries.
In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul called the rollout a disaster. She said she’s fed up with how long it’s taken for officials to approve licenses. In one instance, the governor said they had to consider 400 applicants for just three retail locations. Hochul also criticized the MRTA, saying that “the legislation was crafted in a way that was not poised for success.”
Lack of Enforcement
According to New York Magazine, a big reason for this epidemic of weed bodegas has been the inability of state agencies and law enforcement to deal with these issues. The NYPD had been diligently confiscating products, but padlocking shops proved to be a much more difficult task.
Back in February, the New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) executive director Chris Alexander called the enforcement of new cannabis laws an adjustment. Going from no due process for cannabis laws to full-on legalization has been a jarring shift for many. Alexander also pointed out the need for reeducation within the force.
“At the beginning of this, I would attribute the delayed response to the folks who would normally engage in this type of enforcement, and to education,” he told New York Magazine. “We had to remind law enforcement, for example, that yes, we legalized, but the condition of being a legal business is that you’re licensed, just like the New York State Liquor Authority. So if you are engaged in activity without a license, the same penal-law offenses apply. Those offenses are still on the books.”
These bodegas do more than create more competition. With so many selling to underage customers, parents and educators are questioning the decision to legalize cannabis in the first place.
Official didn’t create the OCM to solely shutter illegal dispensaries. But that’s what they were doing. And it soon became clear that they didn’t have the proper tools to do so. Not only would the state have to grant OCM more power, but Hochul also recognized the need for a separate entity to deal with illegal sales. She’d pave the way for a statewide task force dedicated to shutting these shops down.
Upping the Ante
Gov. Kathy Hochul made some big changes in her FY25 budget agreement. Photo Credit: Shuttershock.
In April, Hochul put her money where her mouth is. In the budget update for the 2025 fiscal year, she gave authorities more freedom and funding to take down the deluge of illegal dispensaries.
The update allows law enforcement to padlock any shop committing illegal acts such as selling to minors, processing cannabis without a license, and distributing untested and unlabeled products. Anyone who attempts to damage or remove padlocks will receive a misdemeanor.
Another huge aspect of the new budget is holding landlords accountable. Lowering the standard for proof required to evict a tenant should make it easier for landlords to shut these shops down. The new laws also allow authorities to let landlords know if their tenants are illegally selling. NYC landlords who fail to take action within five days of being notified will receive a $50,000 fine. Landlords outside of the city receive a 500% rent increase from the time they found out about the violation.
An amendment to NYC’s administrative code allows law enforcement officers to inspect, issue violations, confiscate cannabis, and padlock stores where they see fit. Outside of the city, local governments are granted expanded authority.
A Force to be Reckoned with
NYC has seized around 7,500 pounds of cannabis since May. Photo Credit: Mayoral Photography Office.
Hochul officially launched her Illicit Cannabis Enforcement Task Force (ICET) on May 21. Since then, it’s been working around the clock with state police, the OCM, and dozens of other agencies. So how have they fared so far?
This past week, Hochul provided an update on the ICET. The results were more than promising. In just three months, the ICET has helped padlock 345 illegal shops, with 136 closing on their own in response.
The city has also confiscated almost 7,500 pounds of cannabis, and they’re making sure it doesn’t go to waste. Mayor Adams recently took a trip to Long Island where 4 tons of illegal weed were incinerated at a Reworld facility. Not only does this keep product from ending up in landfills or recycled back into the streets, it also converts it into renewable energy, according to a press release from NYC.gov.
These new developments have confirmed suspicions. The success of legal dispensaries directly correlates to the number of unlicensed vendors in the area. Legal cannabis sales have skyrocketed to the tune of a 51% increase since May.
New York’s legal cannabis market is seemingly trending in a positive direction. That said, the job is far from finished. Shuttering all of these shops won’t be easy. But it seems that the state is finally equipped to get it done.
Leave a Reply