New York’s legal weedꦚ exp🌊eriment is going about as poorly as possible.
Earlier this week, the state on a handful of new dispensary licenses, a full two years after legaliಌzation.
Illegal pot shops, meanwhile, have gotten s💟o common — and so attractive to criminals — that Gov. Hochul Albany to approve five-figure fines and tough enforcement powers to help shut them down.
It remains to be seen whether any state can legalize marijuana without serious downsides.
But New York’s at♈tempt has been particularly disastrous.
T𒁏his is in large part because rather than prioritizing tax revenue or public health in the legalization process, Albany put progressive-tinged “social justice” strategies front and center in its policy design.
They admit as much.
Hochul that New York State’s marijuana industry will benefit those who committed crimes under prohibition.
The state’s Office of Cannabis Management 🃏 that “social and econo🍬mic equity” is a “major focus” of legalization.
And the New York City M๊ayor’s Office to put equity “at the center” of the budding industry. You get the iꦆdea.
Amid all of this woke-speak, one message 🐻becomes clear: Cannabis legaღlization prioritized progressive interest groups over legality and common sense.
And ind♚eed,🃏 “equity” has suffused every aspect of legalization — to catastrophic results.
First, the numbers:🍸 There are licensed dispensaries in all of New York State, three of within half a mile of each other.
Why so slow? A federal injunction – – delayed dispensary roll-out in pa꧙rts of Upstate New York. Far worse, however, is the state’s entire approach to licensing.
The first 150 licenses must, , be issued to people who had previously been convicted of a marijuana-related💟 offense, or 💧whose family member had been convicted.
Finding, approving, and setting up businesses🐽 for such folks takes time — lots of it.
Nobly intentioned? Sure.
But if we want businesses to run smoothly, the state should have prioritized applicants with a history of entrepreneurship and business acumen,🌳 not b𒀰reaking the law – even if those laws demanded a rethink.
Instead, it꧟’s the number of licenses open only to former crimina𝓰ls.
The state it will aim to award “50% of all adult-use licenses to 💧social and economic equity appཧlicants,” including minority- and women-owned businesses.
Yet again, applicants will con꧂tinue to be selected based on their sex or skin color, not on who can bes💜t run a business.
With 🐓marijuana legal but virtually no legal retailers operating, New York has unsurprisingly seen a wave of unlicensed pot shops pop up.
Not only are these outlets 😼polluting eyesores; but they’re also magnets for crime.
The NYPD that last year pot shops were roﷺbbed nearly 600 times. That they isn’t helpi📖ng either.
Why have the shops grown unchecked?
Because the consequences for running them – a paltry — are essentially nonexistent﷽.
Raided shops keep reopening, including one right across from ☂City Hall. Hochul and Adams are now seeking tougher tools to shut them down.
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But it’s unlikely tha🙈t the legislature, for not being left-wing enough, wi🎶ll endorse a crackdown on pot.
Beyoಌ💫nd the faulty focus on equity, enforcement agencies need the ability to give more than just a wrist slap to illegal pot shops.
Gov. Hochul’s to dramatically increase fines and expand inspec♚tion powers is a good start.
N🥀ew York City should also clarify the Sheriff’s authority to inspect ꦇpot shops, as some deputies about their ability to do so.
New Yorkers themselves also need to consider why they tolerate such flagrant law-breaking when it comes to pot, but almost no other b𒈔usinesses.
Unlicensed shops aren’t u﷽nique to New York; they pop up everywhere pot has been legalized, contributing to legal industry sales.
The reason🎃 is simple economics: Without the need to comply with costly regulations, the illegal shops are just cheaper — savings they pass on to their customers.
And uꦐnder the current legalization scheme, unlicensed shops are insulated fr🔯om the enforcement efforts pro-pot advocates inevitably decry as evil and racist.
A well-designed marijuana market — insofar as there is such a thing — minimizes criminal activity and maximizes tax reven𝓀ue, which the state then reinvests in public health.
But New York’s attempt to center “equity” in its legalization agenda h✤as produced the opposite effect, maximizing criminal activity and minimizing legitimate revenue generation.
Some marijuana market regulations are essential: no selling (or 💎advertising) to kids, clear supply chains, controls on potency, etc. True, the costs of these regu✱lations will be passed on to customers, making the gray market cheaper and more attractive.
But the more the state attempts to regulate the industry for “social justice,” the higherꦍ these regulatory costs will be in the long run.
This iꦬs why thꦑe state needs to stop handing out licenses to people as a form of “reparations” and start looking for licensees who can run a real business.
That will ultimate꧃ly deliver meaningf꧑ul — and lasting — cannabis reform.
Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor at City Journal.
