(The Center Square) — A judge has ruled that New York City’s crackdown on illegal pot shops is unconstitutional, dealing a blow to Mayor Eric Adam’s efforts to stamp out unlicensed businesses that have proliferated since the state legalized weed more than three years ago.
The ruling issued by Queens County Superior Court Justice Kevin J. Kerrigan sided with plaintiffs in a lawsuit claiming that a city ordinance used to close shops selling unlicensed cannabis products — which gave city officials vast powers to “padlock” the stores without a court order — violated the constitutional rights of the owners.
In his ruling, Kerrigan acknowledges that the unlicensed sale of cannabis in New York City is “an enormous public health concern” but said the city code underlying the crackdown lacks constitutional protections and that the New York City Sheriff’s Office’s decision to shut down the plaintiff, Cloud Corner, for more than a year was “clear violation of due process under the law.”
“This decision should not be interpreted to condone such unlicensed activity,” Kerrigan wrote in the 13-page ruling. “However, summarily shuttering a business for one year, despite the fact that it was exonerated from allegations of illegal activity stands against the cornerstone of American democracy and procedural due process.”
The Adams administration, which appealed the ruling on Tuesday, defended its “Operation Padlock To Protect” campaign, saying it has “shut down more than 1,200 illegal shops and seized over $82 million in illegal products that, for too long, have put people at risk.”
“Illegal smoke shops and their dangerous products endanger young New Yorkers and our quality of life, and we continue to padlock illicit storefronts and protect communities from the health and safety dangers posed by illegal operators,” an Adams spokeswoman said in a statement.
Adams has labeled illegal cannabis shops as “magnets of criminality” and said shutting them down would “protect children, keep our streets safe, and contribute to the thriving legal market that New York deserves.”
New York legalized recreational cannabis in 2021 under legislation signed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, allowing cultivation and retail sales and setting up a system of taxation and regulation for the new industry. To date, about 77 retail pot shops have opened, state regulators say.
The rollout was slowed by legal challenges, including a ruling by a New York judge that halted new licenses under a program that favors people with previous drug conviction charges for nearly a year as the case played out in court.
Illegal storefront operations proliferated amid the delays in licensing legal pot shops, prompting calls to Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to crack down on unlicensed sales.
Regulators say the illegal sales are stunting the growth of New York’s recreational pot market and depriving the state government of much-needed tax revenue. Adult-use sales in New York state generated only $160 million last year, despite estimates that sales would top $1 billion during the first year, according to the commission.
To date, at least 23 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territory of Guam have legalized recreational marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-eight states have medical marijuana programs.
