New York’s legal marijuana market is expected to hit a major milestone in the next month as retailers pass $1 billion in products sold since stores opened two years ago.
As of last week, the total sales figure stood at $863.9 million—up from $500 million in August, according to data from the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). The state is set to surpass the billion-dollar sales mark by the end of December, officials predict.
“These numbers clearly indicate that New York is open for business,” John Kagia, OCM’s policy director, told the New York Post, which first reported the impending $1 billion milestone. “There’s strong momentum behind the market right now.”
After a slow rollout in its first year marked by lawsuits and other delays, legal marijuana sales in New York have picked up significantly in the past several months. Regulators say that’s the result of more licensed businesses opening as well as what they describe as a successful crackdown on unlicensed shops.
This spring, for example, officials in New York City launched Operation Padlock, an enforcement initiative meant to shutter illegal storefronts. Since then, licensed shops that were open before the operation began have since seen sales climb 105 percent, according to an OCM survey.
A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) told the Post that enforcement actions statewide shut down more than 1,000 illegal dispensaries.
“Her policies have helped transform the industry, increase revenues for local businesses and spur reinvestments in the communities most harmed by historical wrongs—all while building the most equitable cannabis market in the nation,” the spokesperson said.
Hochul argued in June that there’s a direct correlation between the stepped-up enforcement and “dramatically” increased legal sales.
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