What is New York’s Office of Cannabis Management up in smoke?

The legal-pot situation in New York continues to deteriorate, with the state’s Cannabis Control Board now considering relaxing the ban on legal pot shops being closer to each other than 1,000 feet. 

What are they thinking? 

Governor Hochul was supposed to have cleaned up the mess at the Office of Cannabis Management, the CCB’s parent agency, with a much-needed probe.

But based on this new idea, it seems OCM is still dysfunctional. 

Not surprising, considering the mishandling of the legal weed rollout by favoring former criminals for licenses has resulted in legal issues and other problems.

Legal pot shop owners, who are still a small portion of all Empire State pot shop owners, are outraged by the proposal. 

Fair enough. They followed the rules and went through a complicated process to get approval for their business.  

But realistically, their concerns are not the main issue. 

The real reason for the minimum-distance rule is to prevent neighborhood blight, which the OCM is aware of despite their pretend otherwise.

Weed is harmful. It can lead to mental health issues and is a gateway drug.

Easy access to weed results in social problems. Buying from a state-sanctioned vendor does not change that reality, which was overlooked by New York’s legislators when passing the 2021 law.

The poor execution, lawsuits from potential license holders, and the misguided belief that legalizing pot would promote “equity” added insult to injury.

While a full repeal of legal weed may be unlikely, New York desperately needs improved enforcement against illegal shops and strict regulations for legal ones. 

Instead of reducing the distance between legal shops, why not increase it? Let law enforcement shut down illegal vendors and uphold the law.

Legal weed has not been beneficial and has been a disaster for the state and city, as Governor Hochul has acknowledged. 

It’s time for other pro-weed officials to recognize this and consider changing course.