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NY shuttered 1K illegal weed shops since April. Which closed in Hudson Valley, Rochester?

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NY shuttered 1K illegal weed shops since April. Which closed in Hudson Valley, Rochester?

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Authorities have closed down about 1,000 illegal cannabis shops in New York since a statewide crackdown on the illicit — and untaxed — marijuana sales launched in April, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.

Shuttering the unlicensed cannabis shops, including nearly 100 shops outside New York City, became a top priority for Hochul and lawmakers this spring after the botched rollout of the legal marijuana industry. Police and authorities reported some of the illegal shops sold cannabis to minors, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during a media briefing, adding raids also turned up firearms at some illegal cannabis shops.

Many of the illicit cannabis shop closures stemmed from measures approved in this year’s state budget, which allowed regulators and law enforcement to impose tougher penalties on businesses illegally selling marijuana.

Authorities have seized a total of $110 million worth of illegal cannabis products since May 2023, Hochul said, noting some of the illicit marijuana was laced with dangerous contaminants and sold in packaging that looked like children’s toys and crayon boxes to keep parents in the dark.

Which illegal cannabis shops closed in Rochester, Hudson Valley?

While about 900 of the illegal cannabis shop closures fell within New York City, authorities also shuttered 91 of the illicit marijuana businesses in other parts of the state, according to Office of Cannabis Management data obtained exclusively by USA TODAY Network.

Illegal cannabis shops: Nine Rochester shops raided in state cannabis crackdown

The closures included 11 shops in the Rochester area and 10 shops in the Hudson Valley. They were:

Rochester metro area

  • Acadia Canna & Kratom at 1971 E. Ridge Road in Irondequoit
  • Jadr and Co LLC at 722 N. Winton Road in Rochester
  • Higher Level Smoke Shop (Genesis-360 LLC) at 490 Monroe Ave. in Rochester
  • DJs Somewhere at 1280 Scottsville Road in Rochester
  • Jadr and Co LLC at 804 Meigs St. in Rochester
  • Nick’s Superstore at 460 Monroe Ave. in Rochester
  • Hi Breeze at 4348 Culver Road in Irondequoit
  • Rafat Enterprises 4390 Buffalo Road in Rochester
  • Smoke Depot Greece at 630 W. Ridge Road in Greece
  • Puff Puff Pass at 337 Driving Park Ave. in Rochester
  • Elite Cigar & Smoke II at 2973 West Henrietta Road in Henrietta

Hudson Valley

  • Broccoli Convenience Corp, 62 Centre Ave., New Rochelle
  • Puff Point, 642 Main St., New Rochelle
  • Rob Burns Inc., 11 Church St., New Rochelle
  • New Roc City Smokeshop, 687 Main St., New Rochelle
  • North Smoke Shop I Corp, 1295 North Ave., New Rochelle
  • Delta Spacebound Inc, 10 Division St., New Rochelle
  • Dispensary Bus, 3 Snoop St., Monroe in Orange County
  • Peekskill A&A Convenience 988 Main St., Peekskill
  • Port Jervis CBD, 78 Front St., Port Jervis
  • Smilies, 23 Front St., Port Jervis

At the same time, local, state and federal authorities have shut down a dozen smoke shops across Rockland County and charged the owners with violating tax and cannabis laws in related investigations, the USA TODAY Network reported.

Cannabis crackdown: NY botched cannabis rollout. How long will it take to fix it? Here’s Hochul’s plan

Where can you legally buy cannabis in Rochester, Hudson Valley?

There are currently 152 licensed adult-use cannabis dispensaries in New York, including four in the Rochester area and 15 in the Hudson Valley. You can search the full list of legal marijuana shops on the state Office of Cannabis Management website, at cannabis.ny.gov.

Kayla Canne of the Democrat and Chronicle and Alexandra Rivera and Steve Lieberman of The Journal News/lohud contributed to this report.

David Robinson is the New York State Team health care reporter for the USA TODAY Network. His more than 15-year investigative reporting career has included awards for coverage of the opioid epidemic, hospital and nursing home abuses, health inequality, COVID-19 and emergency response failures

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