NY Governor Hochul leads crackdown on illegal cannabis shops.

New York State regulators raided seven unlicensed Manhattan smoke shops for illegally selling flowered marijuana and other cannabis products. The illicit operators face daily fines of up to $10,000 in administrative hearings, and regulators have the power to petition the state Supreme Court to padlock the premises if they fail to stop selling cannabis. The crackdown comes amid criticism of the slow and rocky rollout of New York’s legal cannabis program while a black market has flourished, with at least 1,500 stores of unlicensed city merchants pot, according to Mayor Eric Adams and city Sheriff Anthony Miranda.