‘No more smoke shops’ near schools, says ENY community
For the second time, parents and electeds rallied against a smoke shop that opened up across the street from an elementary school in East New York, Brooklyn. The community is upset about the continued proliferation of smoke shops and their tendency to target minors with their unlicensed products.
Medical cannabis has been legal in New York since 2014, but the state has been struggling to regulate its recreational marijuana industry since legalizing adult use under the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA) in 2021. Thousands of unlicensed smoke shops have cropped up around the city, in some cases, near schools even though it’s against the law for young people under 21 to possess or use cannabis.
Keron Alleyne, deputy chief of staff for Councilmember Charles Barron, led both rallies outside the Pink Leaves Exotic Snaxx shop on Blake Avenue. The shop is directly across the street from IS 218 and opened during the summer months while the school was closed. Alleyne said he has no problem with adults using weed, but takes issue with shops like Pink Leaves specifically targeting children with bright-colored packaging and candy-like product flavors.
“They’re now posing as if they are good partners with the community,” said Alleyne. “They said they were going to keep the smoke shop closed once school opened up, they’re not going to be 24/7, they’re not going to do that to the kids. That was a lie.”
Brooklyn Community District 5 Chair Alice Lowan and District Manager Melinda Perkins, as well as other community members, were equally perturbed by the shop being so close to a school. Perkins said other illegal tobacco products and drugs are probably being sold in unlicensed smoke shops.
“Anybody who knows, knows marijuana has nothing to do with what’s being sold in these shops. You don’t know what’s in it. There’s no regulation,” said Perkins.
For months, authorities have been slowly cracking down on smoke shops with regular inspections and seizures, primarily through the New York City Sheriff’s Office, working in unison with other agencies. In a recent inspection of a smoke shop in the Bronx on Sept. 13, Councilmember Marjorie Velázquez and the sheriff’s office seized cartons of untaxed cigarettes and vape products. During the inspection, the team made two arrests, issued summonses and violations, and assessed an estimated $223,700 in penalties.
The Bronx smoke shop was 0.2 miles from a school and was subsequently closed down, said the councilmember’s office.
“We must address the illegal cannabis retailers head-on,” said Velázquez, who chairs the Consumer and Worker Protection Committee. “What was discovered at this particular smoke shop I visited is only a fraction of what other retailers potentially have. I am dedicated to holding these businesses accountable for violating the law and ensuring my community is safe.”
Assemblymember Nikki Lucas said that unregulated cannabis products are a serious public health and safety issue for the community. She said she’s working diligently with other agencies and community members to identify locations so authorities can come in and shut them down.
“We want to make sure they’re providing the same level of attention and resources and energy to this community to shut these locations down,” Lucas said at the rally.
On Monday, Aug. 14, the City Council finally enacted legislation to hold commercial landlords responsible for renting storefronts to unlicensed smoke shops. The law bans landlords from “knowingly” leasing to unlicensed sellers and imposes fines of up to $10,000.
In addition to their concerns about health risks, council members are railing against the loss of tax revenues and community reinvestment funds that were supposed to be generated from the 13% tax on legal recreational marijuana sales. Illegal cannabis sales are expected to total $5.4 billion, while licensed sales are projected to only be $2 billion, reported Crain’s New York Business.
“I think it’s important to go after the landlords because obviously, we need to go after the folks who really have the power and that’s the person that controls the lease,” said Councilmember-elect Chris Banks. “If we fine the landlords, [they will] do the due diligence necessary to make sure they investigate the type of businesses they’re contracting with other than just financials and making sure they can pay rent.”
Floyd Jarvis, founder of the Ganja War Veterans for Equity, said the MRTA act was intended to help legacy market operators previously jailed for weed-related crimes, justice-involved or affected family members, and social equity applicants to establish thriving businesses. Jarvis said unlicensed shop owners are “skirting the law.”
As of now, reported the New York Times, a judge has ordered a pause on giving out licenses to legacy actors and opening new licensed shops because of two lawsuits brought by a disabled veterans group and medical marijuana dispensaries.
Pink Leaves shop owner Kalshareef El and others were confrontational during the first rally, but didn’t make an appearance the second time around.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
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