Unhappy 4/20: After two years, New York State’s legal cannabis plan has gone up in smoke

On May 18, 2018, the front page of this newspaper and an editorial in this column announced a new Daily News stance: It was long past time to allow taxed and regulated marijuana sales here. On this day loosely considered the annual marijuana holiday, we hold to that position but must sadly reiterate: New York State has royally botched the rollout of adult-use cannabis. Catchup efforts are too little, too late.

This week, Gov. Hochul began a “Why Buy Legal New York” ad campaign promoting legal weed stores — which is to say, the measly five legit storefronts in the city, none of which are in Brooklyn or the Bronx. They are islands of by-the-rules sellers in an ocean of more than 1,600 gray-market dealers.

The kosher retailers can’t compete. Their rule-breaking cousins systematically undercut their prices in part because their cannabis is from outside New York, in part because they don’t charge the required 13% sales tax. The illegals often have splashy, colorful signs and sell pot alongside candy and soda, luring in young people. And while the legals must obey strict siting rules — they must be at least 500 feet from schools, 200 feet from houses of worship and 1,000 feet from one another — the illegals go where they please.

Enforcement by the city sheriff has been spotty. A push by the Adams administration and the Manhattan DA to evict black-market dealers is underway, but you couldn’t tell on the ground.

When in March 2021 the Legislature passed and Gov. Cuomo signed the legalization law, they were right to put people who’d been arrested for marijuana-related offenses at the front of the line to open new shops. But good intentions were terribly implemented, and there was never a workable plan to ensure that illicit sellers couldn’t mushroom while the certified ones were waiting for permission.

A month ago, Hochul proposed legislation for tougher enforcement. It seems appropriate that government has answered the problem of a runaway illegal market with all the urgency and focus of a stoner.