NEW YORK — Thousands of unlicensed marijuana shops have brazenly opened their doors in New York City after the state legalized recreational use of the drug. But after more than a year of lax enforcement, new rules in the state are finally allowing officials to lock their doors.
The New York City Sheriff’s Office says it has closed about 700 illegal shops since 2009. new state regulations passed in April. The unapproved shops had become ubiquitous in the Big Apple, when the city’s power to intervene was limited and the legal market was mired in bureaucracy.
Officials estimated there were about 2,900 unlicensed retailers across New York City — up from about 60 licensed dispensaries currently operating. But cannabis industry licensees say the sheriff’s office is starting to restore order.
Enforcement used to be “kind of a joke, but not anymore,” said Sasha Nutgent, director of retail sales for Manhattan’s Housing Works Cannabis Co., which recorded state revenue. first legal marijuana sale in December 2022.
About 100 businesses have successfully defended themselves against the fines since April, often citing a lack of evidence or faulty sheriff’s records, according to an Associated Press analysis of city court records. But some of those businesses have closed anyway.
When New York first legalized marijuana in 2021, the rules initially gave local law enforcement little power to punish unlicensed sellers, giving that to the state’s nascent Office of Cannabis Management. Officials stressed that they did not want to “recriminalize” the drug as they sought to make amends decades of persecution.
Meanwhile, strict entry requirements apply to who can get a license to open a pharmacy, bureaucratic delaysand lawsuits delayed the launch of legal stores. Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, the rollout announced a “disaster.” New York still has only 150 dispensaries in the state. By comparison, California has about 1,200, although the state also struggled to close down illegal shops.
New York City and stands officials have promised strict enforcement in the past. Last year, lawmakers expanded the powers of the state for inspections, seizures and fines , who used it then to Close some storeswhile the Manhattan district attorney hundreds of strictly worded letters to landlords. But most stores stayed in business, ignoring the threat of eviction or financial penalties and continuing to operate while lengthy appeals processes were conducted.
While Housing Works reported $24 million in revenue in its first year, Nutgent said some licensed stores have struggled because of illegal competitors. They don’t pay the extra taxes that made legalization attractive to lawmakers, and they often ignore state restrictions on advertising and promotions.
But since the new enforcement powers went into effect, sales at licensed dispensary The Cannabis Place in Queens have increased by about 35%, “because customers in the area had nowhere else to go,” said manager Tamer Eltabib.
The powers laid down in the state budget, gave local authorities the ability to lock down stores while administrative hearings are taking place. Because the sheriff’s office can inspect businesses without a warrant, it can quickly raid stores and seize products. A lawsuit has been filed in federal court alleging that the practice denies stores due process, but no favorable ruling has been obtained that would stop it. The law firm representing about two dozen shuttered stores in the lawsuit declined to comment.
According to the sheriff’s office, fines totaling more than $57 million have also been issued since April, but it’s unclear how much of that amount has been collected.
The sheriff’s office declined to comment and referred questions to City Hall, which said 15 teams of New York Police Department officers and police officers are sent out daily.
“If you are running an illegal cannabis business, our government is sending a clear message: You will be shut down,” the office of Democratic Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.
City Councilman Gale Brewer, a Democrat who fought for two years to an illegal weed shop across the street from her office on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, says the latest effort is finally nipping the problem in the bud.
“There’s no doubt about it,” she said.