NYC councilmembers urge sheriff, NYPD to escalate crackdown of unlicensed marijuana

The task force Mayor Eric Adams recently formed to crack down on storefronts selling unlicensed marijuana is ramping up its efforts – but shutting these shops down completely could be an uphill battle.

At a New York City Council hearing on the proliferation of unlicensed smoke shops Wednesday, Sheriff Anthony Miranda, who is leading the task force, testified that “teams will be dispatched to all five boroughs on different days of the week. We are conducting long-term and short-term investigations.”

An NYPD survey has so far identified more than 1,300 shops suspected to be selling cannabis and tobacco products illegally across the five boroughs, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said.

In addition to seizing unregulated cannabis and tobacco products and issuing summonses and violations that result in fines, the task force is looking to target stores for trademark infringement, since some are selling products with packaging that mimics popular brands. So far, the inspections have resulted in three arrests – two for felony offenses and one for an open warrant, Miranda said.

When Adams announced the task force in mid-December, he said he hoped to avoid reincarcerating people for marijuana, since decriminalization was a primary goal of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act that legalized the drug in New York.

[Read more at Gothamist]