New Partnership Targets Unlicensed Cannabis Shops In New York, Here's How

Leafly LFLY announced Thursday that it's expanding its support of the legal New York cannabis market via a new partnership with the New York Cannabis Retail Association (NYCRA), a non-profit coalition of New York dispensary owners united under the slogan “Collaboration Over Competition.”

The new collaboration, notes Leafly, seeks aims to help create a more sustainable, equitable and inclusive cannabis industry.

Why It Matters: Leafly and NYCRA agreed to sponsor a series of industry events in 2024 and also to work on implementing marketing initiatives to strengthen New Yorkers’ awareness of the importance of buying legal and local cannabis.

"The operating environment in the Empire State for legal cannabis retailers has been formidable and the continued proliferation of unlicensed retailers in New York creates unfair competition for licensed retailers and confusion for cannabis consumers," Leafly CEO Yoko Miyashita said.

Read Also: A Dictionary Of Weed Slang: Leafly’s Leafy Lexicon

• Get Benzinga's exclusive analysis and the top news about the cannabis industry and markets daily in your inbox for free. Subscribe to our newsletter here. If you're serious about the business, you can't afford to miss out.

The new partnership follows years of attempts by New York officials and law enforcement to tackle the growing issue of the illegal cannabis market. That said, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and other key city officials recently announced that more than 1,000 illicit cannabis stores have been shut down across NY, including 779 illegal stores padlocked in New York City and an additional 230 closures statewide.

Enter the latest effort by Leafly and NYCRA.

"As the first cannabis marketplace to operate in New York, we have seen first-hand the struggles legal cannabis businesses face in a challenging regulatory environment and unfair competition from thousands of unlicensed operators who sell unregulated cannabis to New Yorkers and tourists alike," Miyashita explained. "Simply put, retailers deserve to operate in a fair and competitive marketplace and the citizens of New York deserve access to safe products and information to make informed purchasing decisions."

Read Next:

• Is The Worst Over For New York’s Beleaguered Weed Market? Sales Projections Optimistic Though Cannabis Recall Debacle Hits Home