New York State Shuts Down Over 1,000 Illegal Cannabis Shops
Hochul's Crackdown on Illegal Cannabis Shops Results in Over 1,000 Closures Statewide.
This spring, after calling the roll-out of New York’s legal cannabis industry a “disaster,” Gov. Kathy Hochul also promised a new crackdown on the thousands of illegal cannabis shops operating across the state.
That effort has led to the closing of more than 1,000 illegal shops statewide since the end of May, the governor’s office announced last week.
In Central New York, investigators from the state Office of Cannabis Management shut and padlocked 24 shops, including 17 in Onondaga County. (See list below).
The targets of those closings are shops that don’t obtain licenses or pay fees or taxes and aren’t transparent about where they source their products. They have been blamed for undercutting the business at the state-licensed recreational marijuana shops that have opened in the past few years.
The state has struggled to clamp down on the illegal shops since recreational marijuana use was legalized in 2021. In May of 2023, the cannabis agency was authorized to seize illegal cannabis products, and then this spring the agency was fully authorized to shut businesses.
That created “a more robust” enforcement,” said Dan Haughney, the cannabis agency’s director of investigations and enforcement.
“The law changed so now we have the ability in certain cases to padlock those selling cannabis without licenses,” Haughney said. “That’s where it’s different now — padlocking has been delegated to (the cannabis agency)... It streamlines and fast-tracks our ability to shut them down.”
Shops that are padlocked can appeal through a hearing process, though it appears none listed below have successfully done so.
Hochul’s office last week announced the new state efforts that launched in late May has closed 230 shops operating illegally across the state outside of New York City, and another 779 in the city. That’s more than 1,000 statewide.
Still, observers of New York’s cannabis industry say there are likely thousands more illegal shops still operating, most in New York City and many others across the state. State and local officials have often encountered obstacles in their efforts to shut them down.
The city of Syracuse, for example, has used its code enforcement powers to try to stop illicit sales in the past and more recently has used a local law it adopted in 2022 to crack down. Those efforts have been met with pushback from the shop owners, including lawsuits. In some cases shops have reopened in defiance of the orders.
But officials need to do more to help the legal industry grow and prosper, said Joe Rossi, the managing director of Park Strategies’ cannabis practice group, which represents and advocates for those in the industry.
“Look, it’s great that they got that passed and, God bless them, they are shutting some down,” Rossi said. “But that’s only part of the equation. How many more are out there? Is this 1,000 out of 10,000, or 1,000 out of 30,000? You don’t know how big a dent you’re making.”
And, Rossi said, there’s also the issue of the continued slow opening of legal and licensed cannabis businesses. This week, more than three years after legalization, there are only 156 licensed dispensaries statewide.
The state attempted to clear that logjam last October by opening up licenses to more applicants, but there are still about 700 of those businesses waiting for final approval. This week, the State Cannabis Control Board approved a new batch of licenses, and agency officials sounded optimistic about the progress.
“Let’s get that moving,” Rossi said. “Some of them have been waiting for 10 months.”
Here’s the list of Central New York businesses closed by the Office of Cannabis Management since May:
Onondaga County
Closed on June 11:
· Top Choice Convenience, 5859 Route 31, Cicero.
· Power Exotics, 8124 Brewerton Rd., Cicero.
· Noosah Exotic Smoke LLC, 3800 Brewerton Rd., North Syracuse.
· Zara Exotics, 7666 Morgan Rd., Liverpool.
· Double Twice Corporation,100 Valley Dr., Syracuse.
· J and J Smokeshop of Liverpool Inc., 7879 Oswego Rd., Liverpool.
· Camillus Smoke Shop LLC, 4310 W Genesee St. Syracuse.
· Liverpool Smoke Shop, 652 Old Liverpool Rd., Liverpool.
· Smokie Zone & Convenience LLC, 432 S. Main St., North Syracuse.
Closed on June 13:
· Stonehenge Smoke N Grow, 7271 State Fair Blvd., Baldwinsville
· Nice Mood Smoke Shop LLC, 4605 W. Genesee St., Syracuse.
· Mr. Puff Exotics Inc., 6430 Kirkville Rd., E. Syracuse.
· Brillant Blends Exotics Inc., 8075 Oswego Rd., Suite 11, Liverpool.
Closed on Aug. 1:
· Paper & Leaf, 1900 Brewerton Rd., Mattydale.
· Panda Exotics 8124 Brewerton Rd., Cicero.
· Exotic Vapes Corp 4713 Onondaga Blvd., Syracuse.
· NY Convenience Store 5133 W. Taft Rd., Liverpool.
Cayuga County
Closed on July 2:
· Panda Smoke & Vape,1626 Clark St., Suite 28, Auburn.
· O Exotic Smoke Shop, 62 Owasco St., Auburn.
· Lucky 7′s Mini Mart, 213 State St., Auburn.
· Blue Smoke and More LLC, 30 E. Genesee St., Auburn.
Madison County
Closed on June 12:
· Cornells Greenhaus, 264, Genesee St., Oneida.
· Passtimes Smoke Shop, 120 N. Main St., Oneida.
Oswego County
Closed on June 27:
· Main Street Mini Mart, 670 S. Main St. Central Square.
