Fox News reports that while recreational marijuana is legalized within New York, there are specific regulatory hurdles that companies must jump through if they seek to operate legally within the state. Sadly, many are trying to circumvent the rules and attempt to open their shops regardless of the rules established for them. Now, Governor Hochul wants to try to shut down the illegal marijuana shops that have opened in New York in recent years.
New legislation proposed by Governor Hochul would fine shops that open illegally up to $200,000 for existing without the proper licensing and more. Fox News reports that New York is trying its best to get its marijuana market up and growing, but only 3 legal shops have opened in the state.
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Landlords have already been under fire if they have allowed illegal shops to open in their buildings. Governor Hochul wants to take that a step further and ban illegal shops outright. The crackdown could raise a lot of money in the form of penalties. However, the larger goal is to ensure those illegal shops are scared off from continuing to operate in the first place.
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The Hochul administration says that its proposed legislation could charge companies that continue to operate without a license up to $10,000 per day that they remain out of compliance. That would be enough to encourage those companies to either get their licensing or shut down entirely.
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Hochul said the following in a prepared statement about the proposed legislation:
“The continued existence of illegal dispensaries is unacceptable, and we need additional enforcement tools to protect New Yorkers from dangerous products and support our equity initiatives,”
A complicated set of laws govern what kind of shops can open their doors in New York. Fox News reports that a federal judge has temporarily blocked the issuing of recreational marijuana dispensary licenses in Brooklyn and parts of upstate New York. The judicial block has halted the ability of shops to open in a legal and compliant manner in those areas. They may be some of the hardest hit by this new legislation if it indeed becomes law.
ABC Eyewitness News notes New York has just three shops open in New York City and two in upstate New York. Unfortunately, the number of unlicensed stores doing business has undermined plans for opening more legal shops.
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