Eric Adams says illicit weed shops are number one targets for crooks — but not enough reason to be closed.

 

The Big Apple’s slew of illegal weed shops are prime targets for robbers, draining crucial police resources — and state penalties are no help because they’re laughably low, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.

The mayor ripped the situation at an unrelated news conference in Queens when he addressed Saturday’s slaying at the Level Up Exotics smoke shop in Harlem.

“We’re finding that smoke shops, because they are a cash business, that they are contributing to our robberies,” Adams said.

“And we knew it was only a matter of time before you’d start to see some of them materializing to shootings.”

He said the state’s 2021 legalization of recreational pot meant that “if you’re [illegally] selling cannabis, you’re going to get a criminal-court summons.

“You know that the fine is? Twenty-five dollars,” the mayor said.

“It’s like they’re laughing at us,” he said of illegal peddlers — while demanding that state lawmakers give the NYPD the power to do inspections and confiscate goods at unlawful shops.

Eric Adams says illegal weed shops are prime targets for crooks — but have little reason to close©. They were provided by New York Post.

New York’s illegal weed shops have been targets for robbers.AP/John MinchilloEric Adams says illegal weed shops are prime targets for crooks — but have little reason to close Provided by New York Post.

Mayor Eric Adams finds the $25 fine to be laughable for those who do not obey the state marijuana regulations. Stephen Yang

Adams, addressing The Post’s Saturday scoop involving an unlicensed cannabis store operating across the street from City Hall — in a building that houses some of his staffers and various city agencies — responded, “We raided it twice. Muha Meds Carts

See alsoEric Adams says illegal weed shops are prime targets for crooks — but have little reason to close Provided by New York Post.

New York has given up on policing drugs, and the city suffers. “And their attitude was, ‘Hey, you know what? You’re going to give me a $50 fine, a $25 fine, and I’m making that in the first second.’ Just doesn’t add up,” Hizzoner said. Muha Meds Carts

On Monday, The Post found the store closed, with items still on the shelves but the display case empty.

“What we must do is change the enforcement,” Adams said.

“And that’s my ask of the lawmakers: to give the authority to the Police Department to go in to do inspections, to confiscate. We have been taking action, but the ability to enforce is outpacing what we can actually do.”

The city sheriff’s office also can collect related fines: up to $250 for selling cannabis products without a license. But usually, the shops close down for a day or so, then open back up, city officials gripe. 

The NYPD recently filed four lawsuits against Manhattan shops that were allegedly caught selling weed without a license by undercover cops in December. The suits seek to stop the shops from selling and impose $1,000 fines every day they illegally operate.

Eric Adams says illegal weed shops are prime targets for crooks — but have little reason to close©. They were provided by New York Post.

A customer prepares to purchase at Smacked Dispensary in New York. Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago