State official won’t say how many illegal pot shops there are as NYC begins crackdown: ‘Larger than we’d like it to be’
A state hashish regulator refused to give an estimate of how many illegal pot shops there are in New York whereas Mayor Adams introduced a five-borough “Padlock to Protect” program Tuesday to shut down the illicit weed shops.
“It’s much larger than we’d like it to be,” Pascale Bernard, the state Office Cannabis Management’s deputy director of intergovernmental affairs, stated throughout a Tuesday assembly at Queens Borough Hall.
Borough President Donovan Richards then requested for a “guesstimate” on the variety of illicit shops which were the scourge of neighborhoods throughout the Big Apple and a thorn within the aspect of the budding authorized hashish market.
“I wouldn’t want to put out a number that is either inflated or deflated,” Bernard stated.
“We recognize this is an issue,” she added.
She stated a brand new state regulation just lately authorized by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the legislature will make it simpler and “turn the tide” towards the illegal shops.
Richards was not impressed by the dearth of specifics on the assembly that included district managers from the borough’s neighborhood boards.
“They should at least have a guesstimate. I was trying to smoke them out,”‘ the borough president quipped.
Adams and city Sheriff Anthony Miranda said there are about 2,900 suspected stores illegally selling marijuana in the city.
By comparison, 55 of the 119 licensed shops statewide are in the city.
More than 20 shops were inspected on Tuesday — including the Bud & Beyond, at 386 Canal St. near West Broadway, and Big City Smoke Shop at 110 Church St.
The sheriff’s workplace, the NYPD and the Department of Consumer and Worker Production took half within the inspections.
Adams gave a pep speak to the hashish cops on the metropolis sheriff’s in Long Island City earlier than the raids to stress the significance of the mission, together with defending youths who’ve been focused by the illegal trade with colourful candy-looking packaging for hashish edibles.
“Today, our administration is delivering on a promise to shut down unlicensed smoke and cannabis shops, protect our young people, and ensure that the future of legal cannabis burns bright in New York City,” Hizzoner stated.
“Thanks to Gov. Kathy Hochul and our partners in the state Legislature, New York City is now using the full force of the law across every borough to padlock and protect our streets. Legal cannabis remains the right choice for our city, but to those who choose to break the law — we will shut you down.”
Miranda stated a majority of the areas visited Tuesday have been closed after huge portions of hashish and illegal hallucinogens such as the “magic mushroom” Psilocybin have been discovered on the premises.
He stated residents as properly as the illegal head shops took discover.
“We’ve gotten a great response from the community,” the sheriff stated late Tuesday afternoon.
“As for the illegal cannabis shops, they know we’re coming. It’s a question of when.”
The new regulation offers authorities an instantaneous cease-and-desist and sealing order to preserve the illicit shops closed pending an administrative overview.
Previously, shops would reopen simply days after a raid.
The house owners and landlords of the buildings face stiff penalties for refusing to abide by closure orders.
Still, some elected officers and civic leaders stated they are going to oppose the opening of state-licensed hashish shops till the illegal ones are closed — amongst them Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella.
He was skeptical that the crackdown would finish the illicit market.
“It is like whack-a-mole; when authorities close one shop, two or three more open to take its place. For the three currently operating legal dispensaries, there are over 100 illegal smoke shops infesting the most frequented corners of Staten Island, especially those frequented by families and schoolchildren,” Fossella stated.
“Existing law enforcement resources are not adequate to contain the proliferation of these pot shops, thinly disguised as ‘convenience’ stores or ‘gift’ shops … We propose that the Office of Cannabis Management should cease granting new licenses to cannabis dispensaries until the Sheriff’s Office and other local authorities have padlocked and permanently closed each and every illegal smoke shop on Staten Island.”
Community Board 9 in central Queens masking Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Woodhaven additionally stated it would oppose any licensed weed shops till all of the illegal ones have been shut down within the space.
Miranda stated the sheriff’s workplace has a workers of 250 employees however stopped in need of saying how many are assigned to hashish enforcement.
