On this Sunday afternoon, Austin Garza, who had come from Dallas to do some sightseeing in New York, was in Manhattan at the main branch of the Weed World Candies chain to buy two pre-rolled joints.
In front of the shop opens the stamped yellow tube “Super Silver Haze” and, with a lighted barrel, offers shots to passers-by, three of which they gladly accept.
Opened in 2019, the store has long stood out from the pizza joints, gadget shops, and high-rise office buildings that line Seventh Avenue between Times Square and Penn Station. But, in recent months, more coffee shops have popped up on this same thoroughfare to sell cannabis illegally to New Yorkers, suburbanites, and tourists alike.
A confusing situation
Part minimalist, part gaudy and illegal cannabis shops have thrived in New York City since the substance was legalized in the state a year ago.
And while the legal market is finally about to be launched, the authorities are increasingly in a hurry to intervene in the face of these confusing affairs, both for clients and police officers.
The public authorities and industry representatives are therefore calling for its closure, for fear that they will evade the official market. In fact, the issue has become even more pressing since Monday 21 November, when the first licenses for the retail sale of recreational cannabis were issued to 36 businesses and non-profit organizations. According to New York State officials, sales were expected to actually begin before the end of the year.
However, if nothing is done, these new authorized resellers will find themselves competing with unauthorized but already established companies on the market.
The prudence of the town hall
In New York City, Eric Adams’ commune is reluctant to really crack down. Mayor spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak said the sheriff’s office, a small law enforcement agency, has conducted hundreds of inspections that have resulted in seizures of products,
