Video shows 4 tons of illegal marijuana burned by NYC Mayor Eric Adams

WESTBURY, N.Y. — Mayor Eric Adams took a victory lap Wednesday in the war on illegal marijuana shops, personally destroying four tons of of illegal pot products seized by the city sheriff.

The mayor sat at the controls of a Westbury, Long Island waste disposal plant ready to get a special kind of high. Not the kind that comes from using drugs, but one that comes from the satisfaction of being able to say “mission accomplished.”

He used a crane to destroy the illegal pot. Ever so carefully, he lowered a boom to grab a load of white plastic bags containing the illegal weed. He then used the joy stick to open the crane and dump the weed products into the furnace.

“By burning the cannabis, it doesn’t remain in our landfills. It doesn’t remain on our streets,” Adams said.

NYC has closed about 25% of illegal marijuana shops

There are close to 4,000 illegal marijuana stores in the five boroughs. City officials said they’ve been able to close 1,000 of them, so the fight against the illegal shops is far from over. The mayor also warned of the dangers of purchasing weed in shops not licensed by the state.

“They’re laced. They’re dangerous. You don’t know what your getting,” Adams said.

Before destroying the seized pot, city officials showed off bags and bags of marijuana buds and loads of other products meant to appeal to younger customers — pot products masquerading as popular cereals, munchies, and candies.

Adams was especially happy about the haul seized by New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda. He explained how important it was to burn the pot so it didn’t end up in landfills.

“You place it in the landfill, you really just open up the door of people going to the landfills and trying to salvage whatever they can,” Adams said.

Officials said they have another 200,000 pounds of illegal pot that still has to be destroyed.

New York City is not permitted to destroy all of the illegal cannabis it has confiscated. Officials say some seizures are still tied up in legal procedures.

Marcia Kramer

Marcia Kramer joined CBS News New York in 1990 as an investigative and political reporter. Prior to CBS2, she was the City Hall bureau chief at the New York Daily News.