Confusing the Customer in New York

A legal adult use cannabis market is not possible in New York if the illicit retailers can operate in plain sight and confuse the consumer without consequences. Identifying over 1,300 shops suspected of selling cannabis illegally is a clear warning signal to the regulators and law enforcement that if this is not addressed, the legal market will not have a chance to grow to a size that could convince some of these operators to leave the illicit market and join the legal market.

This is important work and another example of an East Coast market with a "clear as day" lesson to learn from cannabis markets out west.

While we strongly believe this issue needs to be addressed, we don't see the upside in punishing those who are operating a non-compliant retail location. A simple order and warning mechanism to cease operations for the time being. We need more legal retail locations before any strong action is warranted. We need to solve the product availability and consumer confusion problem first.