Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is seeking to protect the state's legal market for recreational marijuana that has yet to find its footing more than two years after the legalization of cannibas.
In a piece of legislation that was proposed by Gov. Hochul on Wednesday, authorities in New York State would be given expanded power to shut down "illegal" pot shops and levy fines of up to $200,000.
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The bill before the State Legislature would give the state's Office of Cannabis Management expanded authority to seize illicit products and establish procedures for the government to shut down unlicensed businesses. Violations could lead to fines of $200,000 for illicit cannabis plants or products, and businesses could be fined $10,000 a day for selling cannabis without a license, according to the Hochul administration.
While there were expected to be more than 100 legal pot shops open across the state at this time, New York has only managed to open three shops in New York City and just another two in Upstate New York.
While more shops getting opened are in the works, Western New York will not see one of these legal pot shops being opened just yet after a judge temporarily blocked the issuing of pot dispensary licenses in the region. This stems from a lawsuit claiming the state's selection process improperly favors in-state residents over out-of-state residents.
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State Sen. Sean Ryan (D) feels the best way to crack down on these "illegal" pot shops across the state is to get the legal market online.
"Right now, we have [five] adult cannabis shops in New York State. We were supposed to have 150," said Sen. Ryan during an event in Springville on Friday. "In 2022, we authorized farmers to grow marijuana crop, they grew it, it's in their barn, but guess what, they have no one to sell it to, because we only have four shops operating in New York State. We set the public's expectation that we're going to have a robust adult marketplace, but there is no robust marketplace. So the black market's creeping in. If you want to get rid of the black market, we got to get going on getting those licenses out."
As Sen. Ryan points out, the state is waiting for the Office to Cannabis Management to get the licenses out to the shops that have properly went through the process to legally sell marijuana. Ryan feels the longer the process goes on with no legal pot shops being opened, the more the "illegal" shops will put their heads in.
"People have this expectation that we have legalized cannabis sale in New York State, but we really don't, because you can't find a shop to buy it," he said.
While the wait for the Office of Cannabis Management to get these licenses out to shops has been frustrating, Sen. Ryan feels for those farmers who invested in growing these crops and are now sitting on these plants, because New York State said a market was going to be had.
"Right now, they spent their money, and they have a barn full of product that they can't sell to anybody. So we've just got to get cracking on getting those licenses out, and that's how we get rid of the black market," Sen. Ryan said.
Meanwhile, State Sen. George Borrello (R) believes this whole process of legalizing recreational marijuana was botched from the beginning.
"We have decriminalized the possession of illegal weed, and whatever measures [Gov. Hochul's] taking now, I think, are too little, too late," said Borrello on Friday. "I hope she can do something to get things under control, but it is now two years since we decriminalize recreational marijuana. We have incentivized these businesses, and really with this poorly drafted law also created in totally inept Office of Cannabis Management. So now, the Governor wants to crack down on what are, literally, thousands, thousands of 'illegal' shops across New York State that have been operating for nearly two years. I just think this is going to be just a drop of water in the ocean, as far as enforcement goes."
Sen. Borrello feels the whole business model New York State adopted with the legalization of recreational marijuana is completely flawed.
"It was just basically based on this ridiculous woke agenda where we're going to put the first pot shops in the hands of criminals, literally in the hands of criminals, and instead, we should be looking at people that can properly run a business, not based on on some idea that we're going to level the playing field for people that have maybe never been in business and have a criminal background to begin with.
"We're going to take people that have had a criminal history, we're going to give them free pot shops - courtesy of the taxpayers in New York State - and we're going to expect that nothing's going to go wrong. It's never been done anywhere like this, and it has been a complete failure, because as you can see, after two years, they've only opened up three locations in the entire state."
As for how the business model with recreational marijuana should be conducted moving forward, Sen. Borrello feels cannabis should be treated similar to the way alcohol is treated in New York.
"I'm a restaurant owner, I have liquor licenses in my name. If you have a felony conviction in New York State, you will not get a liquor license. But for marijuana, if you have a felony drug conviction, you go to the front of line for a marijuana license. That is the most ridiculous, outrageous idea that I've ever heard of in any kind of business," Sen. Borrello said. "New York State needs to scrap this model and go back to sound business practices if we ever expect to get any revenue, or to create an industry that's not only going to be a good business model, but also not going to exacerbate the problems we already have when it comes to drugged driving in New York State, and other crimes that revolves around the marijuana industry."
While Sen. Borrello acknowledges that any crackdown on "illegal" shops would likely have to begin after a majority of the legal shops have obtained their licenses, he says many of the ones that have been waiting patiently for some kind of decision have given up, at this point.
"You had this supposed $200 million pot of money that was supposed to be there to incubate new businesses, $50 million of taxpayer dollars. The other $150 million was supposed to be through venture capital, and New York State hired someone that was completely unqualified and incapable of raising that fund because, again, they used a 'woke' model instead of a good business model," Sen. Borrello said. "New York State has a lot of problems, the Office of Cannibas Management should be wiped out, and start over again."
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