When shopping for weed, there are certain red—and green—flags to look out for.
Ever since the consumption and sale of cannabis were legalized in New York, our streets have been peppered with new smoke shops hawking pre-rolls, flower and gummies. It seems like there’s a new smoke shop on every corner these days, and while it’s a sign of a new era in New York City, this influx has also caused some problems for the state’s dispensary rollout plan.
“Unlicensed dispensaries have littered New York neighborhoods, blatantly circumventing our laws and selling potentially dangerous products,” Governor Kathy Hochul said last week. “Enough is enough. I promised to protect our communities and hard-working, legal cannabis licensees by expediting the closure of illicit storefronts. I’m proud to stand up and say we got it done.”
Hochul announced a new plan to shut down “illicit” cannabis shops and to protect the legal or licensed marketplace in the state’s FY25 Enacted Budget, including giving authority to the Office of Cannabis Management and local municipalities to take action against illegal/unlicensed stores and “those who enable them.” The governor’s office says these new plans are “the strongest set of policies enacted thus far to tackle the illicit cannabis marketplace.”
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