New York tosses up a roadblock for the illicit crackdown 🧱

NEW YORK
New York’s crackdown ruled unlawful

What happened: A New York City judge on Tuesday ordered that Mayor Eric Adams’ crackdown on illicit cannabis shops is unconstitutional because it violates the store owners’ rights, reports Gothamist. The city plans to appeal the ruling.

Why it matters: Adams’ crackdown, dubbed ‘Operation Padlock to Protect,’ is part of a statewide effort to shutter shops selling illicit cannabis, directed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The operation deputizes the New York City Sheriff’s Department, under Anthony Miranda, to conduct the raids as the state’s chief cannabis regulatory agency. The Office of Cannabis Management isn’t specifically set up to conduct law enforcement, though it works in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Department. 

So far, the city has shut down over 1,000 illicit shops and infamously burned four tons of pot in August. The crackdown came at the behest of struggling legal cannabis businesses, who say that they are getting undercut by the untaxed, illicit sellers who don’t have to comply with the state’s expensive regulations. 

The operation has so far focused on storefronts selling cannabis that, by and large, has been transported across state lines from legal markets rather than craft-scale growers in New York. 

But the operation has also come under fire from lawyers and other advocates who say that it’s a roundabout way of re-criminalizing the sale of cannabis, and that these cannabis sellers have been treated overly harshly by law enforcement. 

What they’re saying: “Illegal smoke shops and their dangerous products endanger young New Yorkers and our quality of life, and we continue to padlock illicit storefronts and protect communities from the health and safety dangers posed by illegal operators,” Liz Garcia, the mayor’s spokesperson, said. 

And: The Office of Cannabis Management says that this ruling doesn’t affect their ability to carry out enforcement and investigations. 

Let’s back up for a second: Illicit cannabis shops flourished after the passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act in 2021, which removed criminal penalties for possessing cannabis and created a complex licensing regime which gave minorities and those deemed harmed by the War on Drugs first crack at the legal market. 

But that complexity, and what many would call favoritism for certain populations on the regulators’ part, lead to what has been criticized as a too-slow rollout of stores. Illicit sellers filled the gaps as a consequence of those policy decisions.

What’s next: The city will likely appeal the ruling. If you ask us, we think buying legal is the right move if you’re able — but there should be a clear path for illicit sellers to go legal. Until then, there’s going to be a whack-a-mole enforcement scenario that does no one any favors. 

-JB

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