NYC Mayor Adams vows to not be ‘heavy-handed’ on illicit weed sales: ‘Enjoy yourself, light up’

It’s a green new day for weed dealers in the Big Apple.

Mayor Adams promised Friday to not take a “heavy-handed” approach toward those who sell marijuana illicitly in the city and gave New Yorkers his blessing to smoke more pot.

While New York legalized recreational weed use last year, the licensing system that’s supposed to regulate cannabis sales isn’t expected to kick off until late 2022 — and Adams said Friday afternoon that he doesn’t see a need for cracking down on anyone caught dealing ganja out of stores or on the street in the interim.

“There needs to be a system of not heavy-handedness, but going in and explaining to that store that, ‘Listen, you can’t do this,’ give them a warning,” Adams told reporters while attending a cannabis industry expo at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

Instead of fining or arresting weed peddlers, Adams said he wants the city to help steer them toward the soon-to-launch legal market. He also noted that he earmarked $5 million in his executive budget proposal for providing support to New Yorkers on applications for recreational pot sales and cultivation licenses. [Read More @ The NY Daily News]