New York State regulators raided seven unlicensed Manhattan smoke shops for illegally selling flowered marijuana and other cannabis products — the first such enforcement taken under a beefed up law approved by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the legislature, it was announced Thursday.
Inspectors with the Office of Cannabis Management and Tax Department seized all the marijuana and THC-infused products at the seven shops on Wednesday and issued notices of violation and orders to cease unlicensed activity.
The illicit operators face daily fines of up to $10,000 in administrative hearings, and and regulators have the power to petition the state Supreme Court to padlock the premises if they fail to stop selling cannabis.
The shops hit by the surprise inspections and facing stiff fines and closure include:: Varieties on Broadway, 736 Broadway; Roll 2 Nation, 738 Broadway; Baby Jeeter, 793 Broadway; Maze 16 St. Marks Place; LaGuardia Smoke, 510 Laguardia Pl; Nomad, 59 W 30th St. and Play Lane, 117B W 23rd St.
The actions taken by state inspectors Wednesday mark the start of a process to close the illicit shops, Hochul and state regulators said..
The shops face $10,000 fines per day plus penalties, via an administrative hearing.
Until recently, the punishment for possessing more than three ounces — or selling any of it — was a mere $125 fine.
Notices of violation were posted on store fronts indicating they were selling illicit products.
The crackdown comes amid criticism of the slow and rocky rollout of New York’s legal cannabis program while a black market has flourished, with at least 1,500 stores of unlicensed city merchants pot, according to Mayor Eric Adams and city Sheriff Anthony Miranda.
Many are avoiding taxes that legal pot stores must pay — putting them at a price disadvantage.
But Hochul on Thursday said the illegal pot party sales are over.
“These enforcement actions are critical steps to protect and help those individuals who were promised a shot to start a legal business and be successful. Additionally, these unlicensed operators undermine the State’s efforts to generate substantial funds for a social equity fund that will go into the communities that have been hardest hit by over-prosecution of the cannabis laws in the past.”
As part of the recently enacted state budget, Hochul and legislature approved a law authorizing stricter enforcement of unlicensed cannabis businesses.
The law allows OCM to whack illegal weed operators with severe fines up to $20,000 a day for the “most egregious conduct.”
It also makes it a crime to sell cannabis and cannabis products without a license.
The Post first reported Tuesday that state regulators were readying an offensive against unlicensed pot operators.