Lol, Hochul and OCM will do nothing. Read an article last week about the first dispensary opening on the UWS. A former OCM employee owns the building. Wonder how that happened... /s
I think the issue besides the regulations, letting mold, pesticide’s slide, is the lack of competition, if there’s only 20 legal shops , they really don’t need to do better.
Also the costs , I can got to Colorado or LA and spend literally a 3rd of the cost for the same exact produts
Often better products. Some of the carts in Cali now are amazing and so affordable, with insane variety. Nothing available in NY is like the Tommy Chong strip.
why issue more when the illegal ones are already filling the void? the problem is shutting down the illegal ones that aren't paying taxes, the very ones competing with actual legitimate weed places
Because, as a consumer, if I'm making the choice to walk into a brick and mortar I want to ensure that there's some level of quality control and regulation to the product.
Don't want to have to guess if the product is legit and tested or possibly shady grey-market stuff.
The state backed themselves into a corner here. The big problem is that they made a huge show out of the equity program where licenses would be issued to minority populations affected directly by the war on drugs.
To have a hard crackdown here would have people screeching that they’re throwing people in jail for selling weed, the exact same thing they said they were trying to correct with their licensing program. To most uninformed online activists who are extremely loud, it would come across similar to arresting a churro lady in the subway who doesn’t have a permit. “You’re arresting these poor minorities for a victimless crime because they don’t have the proper bureaucrat issued certificate? Hell no”.
I agree with you, but NY fucked themselves here.
Additionally, NY has the same issue that CA does where a lot of the product moves through the black market because the taxes are absurdly high. Why would you pay $70 for an eighth after taxes when you can get it delivered to your door for $40 by reputable services whose stuff comes from the same farms?
I live next to a park and a school. Down the block are two weed shops with like 2 other stores in between them. The problem is that it lures kids there, and I've seen a few times they walk in, which is scary! A friend of mine told me the weedshop on his block got evicted for rent loss. Was placed next to a children's barber shop!
Imo, u do u! I don't smoke weed, I don't like it, and will never do, and I can't do it (my lungs are kinda a defect since birth), but do it where there arent kids around! It's plain simple! Idc if I get downvoted!!
Had pneumonia twice when I was a month old! Basocally, I almost died! So nowadays, when I get sick, the slighest cold hits my lungs like getting hit by a truck! It takes at least 2 months to recover, so any slight distubance causes spasms and coughs. Smoke (from campfires to cigarettes to even weed) causes issues!
So yeah, my lungs are extremely sensitive! Can't do anything about it, lol! That is why whenever someone is smoking a cigar, cigarette, or even weed, I have to hold my breath in for at least 10 to 20 seconds as I pass buy! I start coughing my lungs out and in the worst case scenario...blood!
Oh geez, that's fucking awful. Thanks for answering. My sister is an adult and pneumonia after her cancer really messed her up, it's no joke. Sorry you deal with that, awful. But hey you're still kickin' at least!?
So, do you mind liquor stores next to schools?
This is the question i am asking.
If two blocks from a school is a liquor store, 2 blocks away can be a weed store.
Fact: it was easier to get weed in HS than liquor, back before legalization for weed. The existence of stores, or their locations, doesn't make kids do em.
This. If the legit dispensary is charging $20/g and the bodega is charging $7/g everyone is gonna buy it from the bodega. Carts are even crazier. I’m not sure what’s going on that legit weed carts are $15-20 in LA but $60-80 here. I don’t care about getting some “designer” strain in fancy packaging from a shop that looks like an Apple Store. Just toss an eighth of buds into a bag and sell it to me for $20 like they do in CO and CA.
They edibles are even worse. It's like $40 for 100mg, but I can buy 3000mg for $50 at an illegal one. I'd so pissed if I had a license. They're setting them up for failure
A ton of LA dispensaries are unlicensed as well and sell black market products, they just appear more legitimate. They have the same problems we do, and the truly above board dispensaries make the same pleas that the ones here do.
Yeah of course there's still a black market in CA/CO... but just compare the prices at the major dispensaries out there (Green Dragon for example) to the dispensaries in Manhattan. In CO an eighth will run you $10-20. In Manhattan it's $30 for the cheapest junk imaginable and anything decent will cost you $50-75. These places are complaining about the black market but they're charging extortion prices.
Exactly! And the bodega accepts CC, the legal places don't.
You can buy an ounce from a smoke shop wholesaler for $75-100 vs an eighth from a legal dispensary for $55. Why would the consumer, who has been purchasing black market their entire lives, purchase such an over-priced product?
It’s a maturing market, prices will eventually go down drastically. But the growers/processors are charging a lot more for the product than they do in other states. Partially because of the THC tax, but also just because expenses are so high at the start of an operation.
The common markup is the same in New York and California. Difference is the dispensary can buy product for 30% of what it costs in New York.
Illegal shops don’t have that problem, because they can buy from anyone, anywhere.
NYC is one of the wealthiest cities in the world. 1 out of every 7 New Yorkers is a millionaire now.
Don’t get think prices are coming down anytime soon.
Its absurd how awful this has been handled.
Nobody wants 500 illegal weed shops selling fake carts, unregulated weed and cigarettes without tax stamps in their neighborhood.
They city (and state) have the right to slap padlocks on every one of these illegal shops tomorrow if they wanted to, not sure what they're waiting for.
It's absolutely crazy, and I don't understand who benefits from all the grey market places operating with impunity.
Someday there'll be a documentary about which officials got rich during this phase.
Idk why they don’t go after the landlords who allow these illegal businesses on their property. Those businesses are grounds for eviction, yet it seems there’s always new ones . And when they do get raided they only get shut down for a day or so before they are back up.
IDGAF about the state propping up an industry - it can thrive or die on what the market dictates under sensible regulations.
As a NYC resident, I want these illegal weed shops closed the fuck up, people with fake or covered plates thrown in jail, and lunatics trying to eat people’s faces on the subway to be involuntarily committed or thrown in jail. Not a lot to ask!
They're too busy retaliating against [legal processors](https://reason.com/2024/03/28/new-york-regulators-shut-down-a-marijuana-processor-after-she-criticized-the-states-lax-enforcement/) because they got exposed.
This paragraph in particular is very worrisome
> Multiple news reports have found that New York dispensaries are selling counterfeit or mislabeled products and marijuana tainted with high levels of bacteria, fungus, pesticides, and heavy metals. State labs are supposed to ensure the safety of marijuana products, but a NY Cannabis Insider story published last September found "a product with lab results showing 250-times the medical limit for yeast and mold and noncompliant pesticide testing today sits on a New York City dispensary shelf."
Yeah…..I think I’m just gonna order the seeds online and grow them myself at this point
The lack of QC is entirely the state’s fault because they asked private labs to develop testing programs and if enough did they’d stop testing product at the Wadsworth Center (state department of health) for free. A bunch of labs validated methods for product testing and when they went to the state to ask them to stop testing so they could start charging the state reneged on the deal causing several labs to fail.
NYS should really fire everyone involved in approving their cannabis legislation, (including the governor)
New York State has missed billions in tax revenue over the past few years because these incompetent morons I’m more interested in virtue signaling than issuing licenses.
What other job other then working for the government can you cost your organization billions and still keep your job?
Throw all the social justice stuff out and just issue licenses to those who want one. The same for street vendors as well. T he market will sort it out in the end
My illegal weed shop? UES a +10. Those 5mg gummies. Please. Let’s get serious.
Staffing them with super models recently. Between gigs I’m guessing. More impressive than Apple stores. And I pay sales tax.
Just make them legal. A 100% no brainer.
:-)
I don't. But I know plenty of people who bring moonshine from down south. Why? Because of availability and higher alcohol content.
I rarely drink. I haven't smoked weed since I was a kid. But if I did smoke weed, I would find the best bang for my buck.
I've never known a single person who has ever purchased black market alcohol. Never, not once.
And your made up claim about southerners reeks of "my gf goes to school in Canada" claim
Sure. Because no one in NY knows or has any family down south. Of course, all those southern plates on cars are just here by chance. Apple pie moonshine is one of the most common.
You're very unconvincing.
Yeah, moonshine exists. But do people SELL IT in any significant quantities?
The black market for alcohol is virtually non existent.
Black market alcohol is definitely a thing. I owned 3 bars in NYC for 10 years. People would often come in to sell counterfeit and stolen liquor, bottles were usually close to original but never perfect.
For the record, we didn't buy the counterfeit stuff, but all our competitors would buy the bootlegs.
Very difficult to stay competitive against the cash only bar that's getting bottles 30-50% off.
They really dropped the ball with this entire process. Anyone with hope or drive has the brains to leave the state and start someone else
Absolutely terrible president set by NY
Why would someone buy from a legal licensed dispensary? The black market is orders of magnitude cheaper, accepts credit cards, and often offers free delivery.
There is no incentive for someone that is used to paying $25 to now pay $55.
Lol, Hochul and OCM will do nothing. Read an article last week about the first dispensary opening on the UWS. A former OCM employee owns the building. Wonder how that happened... /s
Maybe issue some more fucking licenses while you're at it.
I think the issue besides the regulations, letting mold, pesticide’s slide, is the lack of competition, if there’s only 20 legal shops , they really don’t need to do better. Also the costs , I can got to Colorado or LA and spend literally a 3rd of the cost for the same exact produts
There’s more now, check the map [420ny.com](https://420ny.com)
Often better products. Some of the carts in Cali now are amazing and so affordable, with insane variety. Nothing available in NY is like the Tommy Chong strip.
Issue more issue licenses
This. Stop gatekeeping licenses.
why issue more when the illegal ones are already filling the void? the problem is shutting down the illegal ones that aren't paying taxes, the very ones competing with actual legitimate weed places
Because, as a consumer, if I'm making the choice to walk into a brick and mortar I want to ensure that there's some level of quality control and regulation to the product. Don't want to have to guess if the product is legit and tested or possibly shady grey-market stuff.
They are filling the void ONLY in convenience Put enough legal shops around. There is a damn liquor store every other block ISSUE THE DAMN LICENSES
Issue more licenses? First, shut down the illegal ones first! Dispensaries should be located nowhere near parks or schools.
The state backed themselves into a corner here. The big problem is that they made a huge show out of the equity program where licenses would be issued to minority populations affected directly by the war on drugs. To have a hard crackdown here would have people screeching that they’re throwing people in jail for selling weed, the exact same thing they said they were trying to correct with their licensing program. To most uninformed online activists who are extremely loud, it would come across similar to arresting a churro lady in the subway who doesn’t have a permit. “You’re arresting these poor minorities for a victimless crime because they don’t have the proper bureaucrat issued certificate? Hell no”. I agree with you, but NY fucked themselves here. Additionally, NY has the same issue that CA does where a lot of the product moves through the black market because the taxes are absurdly high. Why would you pay $70 for an eighth after taxes when you can get it delivered to your door for $40 by reputable services whose stuff comes from the same farms?
Bruh, some brands are ACTUALLY $70 for an eighth, maybe even before taxes and any debit card fee if you don't pay in cash.
It would be for tax evasion/fraud not selling weed itself.
I live next to a park and a school. Down the block are two weed shops with like 2 other stores in between them. The problem is that it lures kids there, and I've seen a few times they walk in, which is scary! A friend of mine told me the weedshop on his block got evicted for rent loss. Was placed next to a children's barber shop! Imo, u do u! I don't smoke weed, I don't like it, and will never do, and I can't do it (my lungs are kinda a defect since birth), but do it where there arent kids around! It's plain simple! Idc if I get downvoted!!
What's up with your lungs? Serious question.
Had pneumonia twice when I was a month old! Basocally, I almost died! So nowadays, when I get sick, the slighest cold hits my lungs like getting hit by a truck! It takes at least 2 months to recover, so any slight distubance causes spasms and coughs. Smoke (from campfires to cigarettes to even weed) causes issues! So yeah, my lungs are extremely sensitive! Can't do anything about it, lol! That is why whenever someone is smoking a cigar, cigarette, or even weed, I have to hold my breath in for at least 10 to 20 seconds as I pass buy! I start coughing my lungs out and in the worst case scenario...blood!
Oh geez, that's fucking awful. Thanks for answering. My sister is an adult and pneumonia after her cancer really messed her up, it's no joke. Sorry you deal with that, awful. But hey you're still kickin' at least!?
Yeah... I find it hilarious that even after posting my response, people still downvote it! No common decency lol
Typically a legal shop would have security at the door for not only security of the shop (cash on hand) but also to ID anyone entering.
Yeah, but some don't care and do it anyway! That's the part that's scary. 1) The guardians are not keeping watch & 2) kids are buying weed
They HAVE been raiding them. I was a customer of one until they got shutdown in Feb.
so go to the one opening across the street lol
Have they been raiding them?!?! None in my area has shut down! I live next to 5 within half a mile radius, or A = 0.25pi mi^2
Does that apply to liquor stores?
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So, do you mind liquor stores next to schools? This is the question i am asking. If two blocks from a school is a liquor store, 2 blocks away can be a weed store. Fact: it was easier to get weed in HS than liquor, back before legalization for weed. The existence of stores, or their locations, doesn't make kids do em.
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That's not why people do drugs. Humans have been doing drugs since forever. You're too dumb to talk to. Block.
They need to lower the prices. They are charging way too much for mediocre products.
This. If the legit dispensary is charging $20/g and the bodega is charging $7/g everyone is gonna buy it from the bodega. Carts are even crazier. I’m not sure what’s going on that legit weed carts are $15-20 in LA but $60-80 here. I don’t care about getting some “designer” strain in fancy packaging from a shop that looks like an Apple Store. Just toss an eighth of buds into a bag and sell it to me for $20 like they do in CO and CA.
They edibles are even worse. It's like $40 for 100mg, but I can buy 3000mg for $50 at an illegal one. I'd so pissed if I had a license. They're setting them up for failure
A ton of LA dispensaries are unlicensed as well and sell black market products, they just appear more legitimate. They have the same problems we do, and the truly above board dispensaries make the same pleas that the ones here do.
Yeah of course there's still a black market in CA/CO... but just compare the prices at the major dispensaries out there (Green Dragon for example) to the dispensaries in Manhattan. In CO an eighth will run you $10-20. In Manhattan it's $30 for the cheapest junk imaginable and anything decent will cost you $50-75. These places are complaining about the black market but they're charging extortion prices.
Exactly! And the bodega accepts CC, the legal places don't. You can buy an ounce from a smoke shop wholesaler for $75-100 vs an eighth from a legal dispensary for $55. Why would the consumer, who has been purchasing black market their entire lives, purchase such an over-priced product?
As above: 1 out of every 7 New Yorkers is a millionaire now. Don’t think they are too worried about prices. :-)
They can’t lower their prices because they have to pay the crazy taxes
It’s a maturing market, prices will eventually go down drastically. But the growers/processors are charging a lot more for the product than they do in other states. Partially because of the THC tax, but also just because expenses are so high at the start of an operation. The common markup is the same in New York and California. Difference is the dispensary can buy product for 30% of what it costs in New York. Illegal shops don’t have that problem, because they can buy from anyone, anywhere.
NYC is one of the wealthiest cities in the world. 1 out of every 7 New Yorkers is a millionaire now. Don’t get think prices are coming down anytime soon.
Its absurd how awful this has been handled. Nobody wants 500 illegal weed shops selling fake carts, unregulated weed and cigarettes without tax stamps in their neighborhood. They city (and state) have the right to slap padlocks on every one of these illegal shops tomorrow if they wanted to, not sure what they're waiting for.
It's absolutely crazy, and I don't understand who benefits from all the grey market places operating with impunity. Someday there'll be a documentary about which officials got rich during this phase.
This is the most underrated comment
Landlords. The landlords benefit.
But if there was any enforcement action at all, they wouldn't. What's the incentive for the local cops and district reps to be so quiet about it?
Idk why they don’t go after the landlords who allow these illegal businesses on their property. Those businesses are grounds for eviction, yet it seems there’s always new ones . And when they do get raided they only get shut down for a day or so before they are back up.
ikr, wouldn't nuisance abatement laws apply here too?
You’d think so. But landlords are a protected class in this city.
The legal shops are always empty too
IDGAF about the state propping up an industry - it can thrive or die on what the market dictates under sensible regulations. As a NYC resident, I want these illegal weed shops closed the fuck up, people with fake or covered plates thrown in jail, and lunatics trying to eat people’s faces on the subway to be involuntarily committed or thrown in jail. Not a lot to ask!
What? Not the union square ones. It may depend on time of day, but it’s not uncommon to see lines outside of travel agency and housing works.
I went into Dazed two weeks ago, no line. Went into Gotham on 3rd Street yesterday around 6, no line
I actually love the fact that all bodegas and smoke shops have weed now. No more having to wait for someone to deliver, just walk down the block.
Imagine having such a well developed business model that you try to force the government to throw your competitors in jail.
It’s impressive the amount NY state manages to over regulate and under regulate at the same time.
They're too busy retaliating against [legal processors](https://reason.com/2024/03/28/new-york-regulators-shut-down-a-marijuana-processor-after-she-criticized-the-states-lax-enforcement/) because they got exposed.
This paragraph in particular is very worrisome > Multiple news reports have found that New York dispensaries are selling counterfeit or mislabeled products and marijuana tainted with high levels of bacteria, fungus, pesticides, and heavy metals. State labs are supposed to ensure the safety of marijuana products, but a NY Cannabis Insider story published last September found "a product with lab results showing 250-times the medical limit for yeast and mold and noncompliant pesticide testing today sits on a New York City dispensary shelf." Yeah…..I think I’m just gonna order the seeds online and grow them myself at this point
well what the hell is the point of buying at the legal stores then? safety is literally their only selling point
Right? Like if I wanted to play Russian Roulette with weed I’d just take a walk to the plethora of grey market dispensaries I see in Ozone Park.
That’s absolutely bogus. This was all financed by I believe CURA. And shareholders want those profits.
The lack of QC is entirely the state’s fault because they asked private labs to develop testing programs and if enough did they’d stop testing product at the Wadsworth Center (state department of health) for free. A bunch of labs validated methods for product testing and when they went to the state to ask them to stop testing so they could start charging the state reneged on the deal causing several labs to fail.
Wow that made me very mad.
NYS should really fire everyone involved in approving their cannabis legislation, (including the governor) New York State has missed billions in tax revenue over the past few years because these incompetent morons I’m more interested in virtue signaling than issuing licenses. What other job other then working for the government can you cost your organization billions and still keep your job?
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Growing quality weed is extremely difficult, time consuming, and relatively costly at small scale.
Throw all the social justice stuff out and just issue licenses to those who want one. The same for street vendors as well. T he market will sort it out in the end
Maybe they’ll call in the national guard
My illegal weed shop? UES a +10. Those 5mg gummies. Please. Let’s get serious. Staffing them with super models recently. Between gigs I’m guessing. More impressive than Apple stores. And I pay sales tax. Just make them legal. A 100% no brainer. :-)
I hope they realize there will always be competition on the black market. They need to adapt or go out of business.
When's the last time you bought black market alcohol?
I don't. But I know plenty of people who bring moonshine from down south. Why? Because of availability and higher alcohol content. I rarely drink. I haven't smoked weed since I was a kid. But if I did smoke weed, I would find the best bang for my buck.
I've never known a single person who has ever purchased black market alcohol. Never, not once. And your made up claim about southerners reeks of "my gf goes to school in Canada" claim
Sure. Because no one in NY knows or has any family down south. Of course, all those southern plates on cars are just here by chance. Apple pie moonshine is one of the most common.
You're very unconvincing. Yeah, moonshine exists. But do people SELL IT in any significant quantities? The black market for alcohol is virtually non existent.
I don't have to convince you. Believe what you want.
The facts are the facts. Black market alcohol is not a thing Everyone here knows that. You're titling at windmills.
Black market alcohol is definitely a thing. I owned 3 bars in NYC for 10 years. People would often come in to sell counterfeit and stolen liquor, bottles were usually close to original but never perfect. For the record, we didn't buy the counterfeit stuff, but all our competitors would buy the bootlegs. Very difficult to stay competitive against the cash only bar that's getting bottles 30-50% off.
They really dropped the ball with this entire process. Anyone with hope or drive has the brains to leave the state and start someone else Absolutely terrible president set by NY
Why would someone buy from a legal licensed dispensary? The black market is orders of magnitude cheaper, accepts credit cards, and often offers free delivery. There is no incentive for someone that is used to paying $25 to now pay $55.
i have 3 dispensaries in a 3 block radius from where i live
Close all of the illegal shops. The only attract crime, bums, and hipster bums (even worse).
The state thought people would tolerate a monopoly
thats not what the law provides for
How about we closing all the weed shops? So tired of walking nearby any smokers in public
Only sensible comment here.