New York Mayor Eric Adam Orders NYPD To Crack Down On Illegal Cannabis Vendors

New York's Mayor Eric Adams is not happy about the Big Apple’s prolific illicit cannabis sales taking place around town. He’s so hot under the collar that he vowed to put more cops on the street and increase enforcement. The NYPD started by towing 19 weed-vending trucks around Times Square and seizing the cannabis therein on just one day this week. 

“Many people don’t read the complete law. All they read is, ‘Weed is legal,’ and they just kick into gear,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference in Manhattan on Thursday.

"This is not going to be a city where we openly snub our noses and break the law. That is not acceptable. We didn't walk in with SWAT teams, we came in with tow trucks. You can't sell weed on our streets," the Mayor said. 

Change Of Heart

Adams told NYC residents in early June that they should feel free to buy, sell and consume weed where ever they wish.

He promised not to take a “heavy-handed” approach toward those illicitly selling marijuana in the city. With recreational cannabis now legal and sales scheduled to launch in the coming months, the mayor said back then that he saw no need to crack down on sales in the interim.

“There needs to be a system of not heavy-handedness, but going in and explaining to that store that, ‘Listen, you can’t do this,’ give them a warning,” Adams told reporters at a cannabis industry expo in June in Manhattan.

But now, the weed trucks parked around the city, not just in Times Square, seem to irk the mayor. A similar crackdown occurred in mid-June to a dozen weed-vending trucks, two weeks after the Mayor's comment about "not heavy-handedness."

Up in smoke. 19 illegal vehicles and cannibis seized off the streets of NYC. While others follow the rules, these trucks and their vendors don’t have permits so we took action! pic.twitter.com/DzjAyEl3Xc

— Chief Jeffrey Maddrey (@NYPDChiefPatrol) August 17, 2022

Meanwhile, the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) recently approved the first round of cannabis processor licenses as well as emergency lab testing regulations.  

Photo taken by author.