Pulling up on a sunny, summer day in Staten Island, New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda and his team arrive at what was, reportedly, an unlicensed marijuana shop. The authorities’ visit to the sex shop on Gulf Avenue is just one raid in a string of NYPD visits to illegal marijuana shops in the city. Trying to tackle the swell of unlicensed dispensaries that now outnumber legal ones around New York City, NYPD is cracking down with surprise raids and heavy fines.
Since legalizing recreational marijuana in the state three years ago, the Big Apple has just 57 licensed dispensaries operating within the city’s limits. But law enforcement is facing an uphill battle to snuff out roughly 3,400 illicit marijuana shops that have popped up since the state legalized marijuana, a staggering number in comparison to shops currently holding a license.
NYC communities, residents, and landlords are joining together to help the NYPD fight back against illegal marijuana shops. Albany empowered authorities earlier this year with new tools to help smackdown illicit weed sellers, such as the ability to padlock illegal smoke shops for up to a year immediately after an inspection.
While the news highlights that the NYPD is cracking down on illicit marijuana shops, the shops themselves are never alerted when authorities are on their way. “Nobody receives advance notice of where we’re going,” Miranda said. “What they’re doing is selling unregulated and unsafe products to the community.”
At the Gulf Avenue sex shop, Mayor Eric Adams joined to inspect some of what officers found behind the counter. Adams stated, “Weapons, tobacco, cannabis,” were all found inside the illegal operation, with $19,000 worth of cannabis boxed, bagged, and seized by the city. Not only was the sex shop stripped of its illegal products, it was also slapped with a $25,000 fine.
“Every night here, a lot of people,” said neighbor Rahm Cherukuri, who owns the business next door. “Thank God [the] city is doing this.”
With more authority to shut down these illegal marijuana stores, Miranda states, “The impact’s already been seen citywide… You have locations closing down on their own. You have landlords taking action on their own.”
Since the raids began, the task force has closed down 535 illicit shops, seized $17.5 million in illegal cannabis products, and handed out over $43 million in civil penalties, according to the mayor’s office.
Yet, smoke shop owners are not sitting back and staying quiet. Some have filed lawsuits against the city, claiming the raids are a violation of their due process rights. Adams discussed how the legalization of recreational marijuana in New York was about undoing the effects of the war on drugs, also stating, “We don’t want to go backwards and the best way to do that is be very stringent about not allowing these illegal shops to open everywhere.”
Ultimately, “The long-term goal here is that the legal cannabis business has the opportunity to strive and do what it was designed to do and provide the benefits to the city we’re all expecting from it,” according to Adams. It is a difficult line to tread, but illegal shops selling unregulated products that may be 10 times more potent than what is currently legal in the state pose a risk to the communities they are operating within.
