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NEW YORK (AP) — Fed up with hundreds of bootleg pot shops, New York launched new inspections this month aimed at getting rid of the unlicensed stores that are troubling the state’s fledgling legal marijuana market. “You will be caught,” the governor vowed.
But anyone who expects to see the stores shape up or shut down might need patience.
Two weeks after the enforcement push debuted with authorities issuing violation notices and confiscating contraband weed at 11 Manhattan storefronts, only two appeared to have closed when an Associated Press reporter visited, and two others were no longer selling marijuana products.
At the rest, it was business as usual.
In some shops, customers came and went right past the “ILLICIT CANNABIS SEIZED” notices inspectors had posted in the windows. Other retailers apparently took down the signs, ignoring their stated warnings of additional penalties for doing so. A couple of stores advertised marijuana products on sidewalk signs. And another was thick with pot smoke from customers enjoying their purchases in its “lounge.”
For all its new initiative, the state won’t immediately shutter the illegal shops, which have been operating with relative impunity throughout New York City.
Inspections are just a first step toward hefty fines and, potentially, closure and even criminal prosecution. Still, regulators hope this will be a turning point in weeding out illegal sellers and giving authorized ones more room to flourish. [Read More @ AP News]
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