Op-Ed | Protecting our children and our streets from illegal smoke shops

Every day, this administration is improving the quality of life of the 8.3 million New Yorkers who call this city home. From keeping New Yorkers safe on the subways and streets, to getting black garbage bags off our sidewalks, to building more green and clean public spaces, we are making our city safer and more livable for all New Yorkers.

But for too long, illegal cannabis shops have contributed to a feeling that anything goes on our streets, while targeting our most vulnerable, including children, with dangerous, counterfeit products marketed as candy. These stores threaten the health and safety of New Yorkers by selling dangerous and untested products. We will not sit idly by as these illegal cannabis shops continue to harm our kids and we will not let them undermine our quality of life, especially around our schools, houses of worship, and youth facilities.

That is why this administration is making good on our promise to shut down these illegal storefronts. We are making our streets and our children safer. Thanks to Governor Kathy Hochul and our partners in the state Legislature, New York City has been able to use the full force of the law to go after these illegal storefronts through “Operation Padlock to Protect.”

In just three months, “Operation Padlock to Protect” has closed and locked 843 illegal smoke shops, seized over $45 million in illegal product, and issued over $72 million in penalties. 

And just last month, in the Bronx, we conducted operations against two-major illegal distributors, taking a combined $8 million of illegal product off city streets. These operations have made a huge difference in our streetscape while improving the quality of life for countless New Yorkers in record time.

Illegal smoke and cannabis shops also stand in the way of the legal cannabis market, taking money out of the registers of small business owners trying to earn a living, many of whom are formerly justice-involved Black and Brown neighbors who were disproportionately affected by the so-called ‘War on Drugs.’ We are making sure that justice-involved New Yorkers get their fair shot and fair share, and we will not let the economic opportunities that legal cannabis offers go up in smoke because of these illegal operators.

Legalization is about following the law, not a free pass to sell unregulated and unsafe products. Through “Operation Padlock to Protect,” we are making it clear that any operator acting illegally will face swift consequences as we protect our city’s children, improve quality of life, and facilitate a safe and thriving legal cannabis market.

We hear from New Yorkers in every corner of the five boroughs that they are seeing illegal cannabis stores in their neighborhoods close down and stay closed once-and-for-all. This is what it looks like to execute on a vision for improving public safety and to work side-by-side with communities in achieving lasting results. We are going to continue to shutter these illegal stores and protect our young people, our families, and our communities.