It’s a question often asked by New Yorkers, as they puzzle over the omnipresent funk of pot in a city where recreational marijuana sales are still illegal. Even though New York state signed legislation in 2021 to legalize recreational use, it’s still ramping up a carefully considered licensing plan that seeks to create a diverse industry that’s inclusive of small businesses and minorities whose communities have been most hurt by the war on drugs.
Such moves have emboldened the once-underground market. This May, on a buttoned-up stretch of Park Avenue near Grand Central Terminal, “UNCLE BUDD-NYC” blazed from an sign atop a green van equipped like a food truck with a window for purchases. It advertised delivery and its website, which sells THC flower, vapes, prerolled joints and edibles. Operators of the truck, which reportedly has been towed away in the past from the Upper East Side, didn’t return a call seeking comment.
Marijuana sellers in plain sight are now common in the city. They’re gambling that police won’t shut them down. Some are also trying to build brands that will give them a head start in the recreational market. The payoff for entrepreneurs’ efforts is potentially lucrative — but it’s also a threat to the legal market that New York City wants to create.
The more momentum illegal sales get now, the harder it will be for the state to clamp down on them once legal sales begin. And New York desperately wants to avoid the disaster of California, where illicit sellers are not only co-existing with the legal market, but out-competing it on price. That drives down tax revenue that was the justification for legalizing weed in the first place, and has even prompted relief packages.
H/T: www.bloomberg.com
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By Tiffany Kary on www.bloomberg.com
