NY Marijuana Industry: Problems & Delays

Months before New York City’s first marijuana dispensary opened in December 2022, Mayor Eric Adams imagined cannabis as the city’s ticket out of pandemic struggles, “creating new jobs, building wealth in historically underserved communities, and increasing state and local tax revenue.”

Things didn’t go quite according to plan. The rollout in 2022-23 was so rocky that Gov. Kathy Hochul called it a “disaster.” But after total sales passed $1 billion last year, she proudly claimed that New York had “the strongest cannabis industry in the nation.” She may have spoken too soon.