Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced raids against illegal mobile cannabis dispensaries and one brick-and-mortar smoke shop that resulted in five arrests.
Photo courtesy of the Queens DA’s office
Queens legislators have taken decisive action to combat the sale of illegal cannabis products this year, and the New York State Office of Cannabis Management reports that it has taken steps to combat the issue in the wake of the pressure.Â
The OCM, which issues licenses as well as enforces cannabis laws, said that it has targeted unlicensed cannabis shops across the state, and has seized more than $50 million worth of illicit cannabis year to date, according to data released on Monday, Dec. 4. The agency said that it also stepped up its inspections in November, although not to a level critics would want.
OCM investigators, aided by the Department of Taxation and Finance and other authorities, reports that it had inspected statewide 71 shops, including 13 that were re-inspected, in November, according to a monthly update. In conducting the inspections, 812 pounds of flower, 701 pounds of edibles, and 61 pounds of concentrate, all together with an estimated value of $7,284,986, were seized as a result of the inspections.
The inspections follow calls from Queens officials as well as others across the state calling for enforcement. Queens lawmakers, such as Council Members Lynn Schulman and Joann Ariola, have also sponsored legislation that aims to clamp down on illegal shops. Their legislation, which was passed in July, hits landlords with hefty fines if they knowingly rent storefronts to smoke shops selling cannabis without a license. Â
Council Member Robert Holden, representing the neighborhoods of Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, has also sponsored legislation this year to punish smoke shops caught illegally selling cannabis products. He introduced a bill, which remains in committee, that would allow the Commissioner of Consumer…
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