New York authorities have seized about 1,000 pounds of illegal marijuana products worth about $10 million from 31 different shops accused of illegally selling cannabis across the state, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday.
The raids of unlicensed cannabis stores began earlier this month, as state agents with the Office of Cannabis Management began enforcing new state laws that in part increased civil and tax penalties for illicit cannabis sales.
Crackdowns on illicit cannabis sales stemmed from mounting concerns that black-market marijuana businesses posed a threat to both public health and the legal marketplace, which has struggled to get rolling since New York legalized its adult-use cannabis industry in 2021.
The 31 shops also face fines of up to $20,000 per day if they get caught illicitly selling marijuana again, and the storefronts could be padlocked for up to a year for further violations, Hochul added. The shops hit by raids included facilities in Ithaca, Binghamton, Endicott and New York City.
Illicit cannabis is ‘unsafe, unfair and unjust’ in NY
Licensed cannabis shops sell products tested for unsafe contaminants to adults over 21, Hochul said. Those sales also provide tax revenues that benefit communities hit hardest by racially biased enforcement of prior marijuana laws.
Unlicensed cannabis stores, she noted, are selling products potentially laced with unsafe ingredients, while also marketing to children by using candy-like products and packaging.
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“Illegal sales are not just unsafe and unfair, they are unjust,” Hochul said.
As part of the illicit cannabis crackdown, New York lawmakers approved $5 million in the recently enacted state budget for hiring 37 full-time workers to focus on enforcement efforts, Hochul said.
How much illegal cannabis gets seized in NY?
To better understand the effectiveness of seizing illicit weed from 31 stores, consider officials have estimated more than 1,000 shops have been driving the black-market supply statewide.
But Hochul on Thursday asserted the higher penalties and targeted enforcement efforts should act as a deterrent for those seeking to illegally sell cannabis in New York. She noted the estimated value of the weed seized so far is between $9 million and $11 million.
Still, the state crackdown comes as federal marijuana enforcement efforts have declined in recent years.
For example, federal drug agents eradicated about 32 illegal cannabis grow operations in New York in 2022, arresting two people while seizing marijuana and assets worth about $1.7 million, the most recent data show. That’s a drastic drop from 280 illegal grow operations busted the prior year, and well below the peak of about 430 grow operations eradicated in 2016.
