New York, Seattle Times says, made marijuana legal back in 2021. Unfortunately, the state didn’t provide much law enforcement when it came to selling the drug.
Law enforcement agencies didn’t have power when it came to punishing unlicensed sellers, with that responsibility being handed to the Office of Cannabis Management, which didn’t want to “recriminalize” the drug.
With illegal selling and distribution not being taken seriously, New York City saw thousands of unlicensed marijuana shops open up.
New measures, however, have since been enforced, allowing law enforcement to take the appropriate actions.
The Seattle Times describes the new measures as giving “local authorities the ability to padlock stores while administrative hearings play out”. Additionally, even if they don’t have a court order, the sheriff’s office can now inspect businesses for illegal marijuana distribution.
While these new measures were accused of denying stores due process, the ruling was not in the arguing party’s favor.
The new measures have already proven successful, with the New York City sheriff’s office stating that they have shut down “around 700 illegal stores since the state regulations passed in April”. Law enforcement has also issued over $57 million in violations since April.
How much of these violations have been paid is currently unknown.
Before a quarter of the illegal ones were closed, there were roughly 2,900 illegal marijuana stores and 60 legal ones.
Regarding law enforcement, Sasha Nutgent, retail director of Manhattan’s Housing Works Cannabis Co., Nutgent has compared past enforcement to the present one. She has stated that the former was “kind of a joke, and now it’s not”.
With the sheriff’s office not responding to any comments, questions have been referred to City Hall. When asked, it was stated that 15 teams of deputies and NYPD officers were sent out daily.
In a statement, the office of Democrat Mayor Eric Adams said “If you are operating an illegal cannabis business, our administration is sending a clear message: You will be shut down”.
Hopefully, this is only the start of a process that will help clean up the city and make this popular tourist spot even more attractive to visitors.
