Judge Rules Against NYC In Crackdown On Unlicensed Cannabis Shops

October 30, 2024

NEW YORK – A judge in Queens has ruled that the city shutting down a cannabis shop that was operating without a license was unconstitutional.

The decision calls into serious question the Mayor Eric Adams’ enforcement program, Operation Padlock to Protect. That operation has closed down some 1,000 stores without cannabis licenses.

A state supreme court judge ruled that a business on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Queens that was shut down was denied due process, and that the program that allowed the sheriff to decide whether to keep the store closed for up to a year is unconstitutional.