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Thousands of marijuana shops boldly opened without a license in New York City after the state legalized recreational use of the drug<\/a>, but after more than a year of lax enforcement, new state rules are finally allowing officials to padlock their doors.<\/p>\n New York City\u2019s sheriff\u2019s office says it has shuttered around 700 illegal stores since\u00a0new state regulations<\/a>\u00a0passed in April. The unsanctioned shops had become ubiquitous across the Big Apple<\/a>, when the city\u2019s power to step in had been limited and the legal market was mired in red tape.<\/p>\n Officials had estimated there were some 2,900 unlicensed vendors throughout New York City \u2014 compared to around 60 licensed dispensaries currently operating. But cannabis industry licensees say the sheriff is starting to bring order.<\/p>\n Enforcement used to be \u201ckind of a joke, and now it\u2019s not,\u201d said Sasha Nutgent, retail director of Manhattan\u2019s Housing Works Cannabis Co., which rang up the state\u2019s\u00a0first legal marijuana sale<\/a>\u00a0in December 2022.<\/p>\n Around 100 shops have successfully defended themselves against the fines since April, sometimes by citing faulty paperwork or the sheriff\u2019s lack of evidence, according to analyses of city administrative hearing data by The Associated Press and the City Council\u2019s investigative arm. But some of those businesses still closed anyway.<\/p>\n When New York first legalized marijuana in 2021<\/a>, the regulations initially didn\u2019t give local law enforcement agencies much power to punish unlicensed sellers, assigning that to the nascent state Office of Cannabis Management. Officials stressed that they didn\u2019t want to \u201crecriminalize\u201d the drug as they tried to make up for\u00a0decades of prosecutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, strict eligibility requirements on who could receive a license to open a dispensary,\u00a0bureaucratic delays<\/a>and lawsuits<\/a>\u00a0slowed\u00a0the launch<\/a>\u00a0of legal stores. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat,\u00a0declared the rollout<\/a>\u00a0a \u201cdisaster.\u201d New York still has only 150 dispensaries statewide. By comparison, California has around 1,200, though the state has\u00a0also struggled<\/a>\u00a0to shut down illegal shops.<\/p>\n New York City and\u00a0state<\/a>\u00a0officials have promised tough enforcement in the past. Last year, lawmakers\u00a0expanded the state\u2019s powers<\/a>\u00a0for inspections, seizures and fines\u00a0,<\/a>\u00a0which it then used to\u00a0close some stores<\/a>, while Manhattan\u2019s district attorney sent\u00a0hundreds of sternly-worded letters<\/a>\u00a0to landlords. But most of the stores persisted, ignoring the threat of eviction or financial fines, and were able to continue operating as lengthy appeals played out.<\/p>\n While Housing Works has reported $24 million in sales in its first year, Nutgent said some licensed stores have struggled because of the illicit competitors. They don\u2019t pay the additional taxes that helped legalization become palatable to legislators, and often flout state restrictions on advertising and promotions.<\/p>\n But since the new enforcement powers came in, business at licensed dispensary The Cannabis Place in Queens has increased by around 35% \u201cbecause the customers in the area didn\u2019t have anywhere else to go,\u201d said manager Tamer Eltabib.<\/p>\n The powers, passed in the state budget,\u00a0gave local authorities<\/a>\u00a0the ability to padlock stores while administrative hearings play out. Because the sheriff\u2019s office can inspect businesses without a court order, it\u2019s able to quickly raid retail stores and seize products. A lawsuit was filed in federal court arguing the practice denies stores due process, but has not won any favorable ruling that would stop it. The law firm representing some two dozen shuttered stores in the lawsuit declined to comment.<\/p>\n The sheriff\u2019s office says it has also issued violations amounting to more than $57 million since April, though it\u2019s unclear how much of that sum has been collected.<\/p>\n The sheriff\u2019s office declined to comment, referring questions to City Hall, which said 15 teams of deputies and NYPD officers are being sent out daily.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are operating an illegal cannabis business, our administration is sending a clear message: You will be shut down,\u201d the office of Democrat Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.<\/p>\n City Council Member Gale Brewer, a Democrat who strove for two years to shutter\u00a0an unlicensed weed shop<\/a>\u00a0across the street from her office on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side, says the latest effort is finally helping to nip the problem in the, well, bud.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no question about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n