Smoke them out
In some good news, the state authorities tasked with regulating New York’s cannabis market have levied more than $25 million in fines to unlicensed operators, just the kind of dissuasive measure we’ve long said was necessary to stem the out of control proliferation. In some bad news, according to reporting in the City, less than a tenth of 1% of those fines have actually been collected. Hardly a deterrent.
Throw that on the pile of tough enforcement initiatives that have existed mainly on paper. At most, the thousands of illegal pot shops will get a little bit of their illicit wares seized and a stern warning to not do it again, which of course they will. State lawmakers screwed up by not building in any enforcement mechanisms or even clear authorities with their rushed legalization of recreational use, growth and sale nearly three years ago now, and playing catch-up has so far been ineffective.
A bill introduced by Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar and state Sen. Leroy Comrie, both of Queens, aims to move that ball forward by granting local authorities the power to shut down and even seize shops that are selling unregulated marijuana. This is the type of clear and actionable delegation of enforcement that has been sorely missing so far. The Legislature should pass it without delay to remedy the mess they created with the incredibly weak state Office of Cannabis Management.
Readers might ask why it’s such a bad thing for smoke shops to sell a little unregulated cannabis after New York made recreational use legal. Because the promise of legalization was to have regulated, inspected and taxed cannabis. Who knows what you’re actually getting when you’re buying something to smoke or eat? Who knows where it’s coming from, or if it’s being sold illegally to minors?
Plus, the goal of legal cannabis was that it would be a revenue generator for the state and an economic tide to raise the boats of those people impacted by decades of the criminalization of weed. Instead, the spread of illegal sellers has swamped the market and tanked many a small business owner who had seen a hope in the new sector.
We’ve made this point before but it’s worth re-emphasizing: we do not want cops to go into unlicensed weed stores and slap the cuffs on unsuspecting clerks and even small business owners. We do want cops to confiscate what they are selling and bring along sturdy padlocks to shut down the stores and tow away the vans peddling pot. And selling to kids must never be tolerated.
Since the Office of Cannabis Management seems incapable by design of doing anything, from granting legit licenses to cracking down on illegals, someone has to do. New illegal pot shops are opening up daily without fear of any consequences. Gov. Hochul is right that “it’s a disaster.”
Fines must be collected, timely and in full, and shops that rack up violations must face permanent closure — not to reopen the next day or the next week, but to lose their business license and access to the space. We had the opportunity for a worldclass cannabis market, and we missed the boat. Now the least we can do is have a sane one.