CANNABIS NEWS | Cannabis Brokers

NYC shuts down nearly 800 illegal cannabis shops in 3 months. Here's an update on the crackdown.

9-1-24 NEW YORK -- New York City has shuttered nearly 800 illegal cannabis shops over the past three months, officials announced Wednesday. Mayor Eric Adams said Operation Padlock to Protect shut down 779 businesses across the five boroughs, issuing $65,671,487 in fines and seizing $41,443,792 worth of products.

NYC shuts down nearly 800 illegal cannabis shops in 3 months

"For too long, illegal 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," Adams said in a statement. "But today, we are celebrating that this is no longer being tolerated and we are making huge gains to protect communities and usher in a legal cannabis market that will thrive."

Gov. Kathy Hochul added more than 1,000 illegal shops have been closed statewide, including six earlier this month in New Rochelle.

"These criminals are very clever. We were playing Whac-a-Mole. We were playing that for a long time. They thought they were winning. Guess what? They lost," Hochul said.

Who knew?

October 1st 2024
Year over year, global cannabis revenues exceed expectations and now stand at an estimated $50 billion in global sales in 2023. If you add in the illicit market, the number could be more like $344 billion, and this does not even take into account new demographics that will open as legalization increases, as it’s already the most-used drug worldwide while still being illegal in most countries.

2024 is shaping up to be a year of potential big wins for cannabis from legislative, valuative, and popular opinion viewpoints

Massachusetts marijuana companies had record-breaking sales in 2023

Massachusetts recreational and medical marijuana establishments set a new annual sales record of $1.79 billion in 2023, the Cannabis Control Commission announced Tuesday.

Last year marked the sixth consecutive year of record-breaking growth for Massachusetts recreational cannabis firms, the news release said. Last year’s numbers exceeded 2022 sales by $78 million — an increase of more than 5 percent, according to the commission. And marijuana retailers and operators saw $140.1 million adult-use sales in December, making it their best month yet.

“This continued growth confirms that Massachusetts’ regulated marijuana industry is still a maturing market,” Ava Concepcion, acting chair of the Cannabis Control Commission, said in the release.

Last year saw the four months with the highest recreational cannabis sales since recreational marijuana stores first opened in 2018, said the commission. Since 2018, cannabis retailers and delivery operators have generated more than $5.65 billion in sales as of Jan. 28, the release said.

The state has approved 338 marijuana retailers and 21 delivery businesses to operate as of December 2023. They account for more than $1.56 billion of last year’s sales. Another 103 medical marijuana treatment centers are in operation; their more than 97,000 patients accounted for $225 million of 2023 sales, according to the commission.

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“As more retailers and delivery licensees come online, flower prices start to stabilize, and the stigma surrounding cannabis slowly dissipates — legal, tested products are becoming more accessible, affordable, and approachable than ever before, and that’s reflected in the multiple sales records licensees broke in 2023,” said Concepcion.