As Mayor Eric Adams shuts down hundreds of unlicensed marijuana stores, displaced customers are increasingly turning to the growing number of legal dispensaries that are cropping up across New York City. But some cannabis consumers say they are still confused about how to distinguish state-approved shops and what sets their products apart from unlicensed ones.
With the recreational marijuana market still in flux, there is a chaotic mix of regulated and rogue weed stores lining city streets and showing up in online search results for a “dispensary near me.”
Gothamist spoke with some consumers who said they have their own methods of identifying legal shops — but they aren’t always reliable.
Jay Patel, an office worker who was chatting with a friend in Washington Square Park, said he looks for the stores with the most Google reviews.
“If it’s under 1,000 or something, like 500 even, it’s usually one of the pop-up ones that are probably illegal,” Patel said.
Others said they look for packaging that appears more official or storefronts that seem upscale, though these can often be misleading.
Some consumers said they care more about convenience and value when buying marijuana than state-approved testing of the products.
For those who prefer legal cannabis or seek a reliable vendor that isn’t at risk of shutdown, Gothamist has created a map of the city’s legal dispensaries and a handy guide to New York’s marijuana market.
[Read more at Gothamist]