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BUFFALO, N.Y. — Western New York’s first legal recreational cannabis shop opened almost three years ago, about two years after recreational marijuana became legal for adults to use in the state.
And on this 4/20, an unofficial holiday for cannabis enthusiasts, 2 On Your Side checked in with the Office of Cannabis Management to see how the program is going.
The state’s first adult-use recreational cannabis dispensary opened in late 2022 in Manhattan. Now, there are 641 licensed stores and counting in New York State.
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As the adult-use cannabis program grows in New York, the Office of Cannabis Management is always adapting. Patrick McKeage is the Executive Deputy Director for Regulatory Operation. He says the state’s busy cracking down on illegal marijuana shops.
“This is one of those things, it takes a village. So we have an incident report form that’s on our website, cannabis.ny.gov. Anyone can go on that form and report an illicit dispensary,” said McKeage. “This is how we actually get a lot of our tips coming in from the public and other licensees who see a location open up near them. It then goes to our enforcement team who puts it in the queue to do an inspection.”
McKeage says the state has ordered 600 illegal cannabis shops to close so far. And soon, a new legal option will spring up. Cannabis showcase event permits are coming.
“This would allow sales of cannabis at certain events outside of a licensed dispensary. At our April board meeting, the board actually approved the regulations, kind of authorizing these event permits, and so we expect in the next couple of weeks to be launching those event permit applications where our licensees can apply for,” McKeage said. “They do need to receive municipal approval in order to conduct one of these events, so we’re encouraging folks [to] go out, talk to your municipalities now, start making those connections, and be on the lookout for the application opening.”
Checking that list of 641 dispensaries online, 19 are in the City of Buffalo, with dozens of others across Western New York.