Deputy sheriffs’ union balks at cracking down on unlicensed and unregulated smoke shops

BY OLIVIA BENSIMON

Amid the buzz of the city’s first three legal weed dispensaries opening in the past few months, a lot of focus has been on addressing the pervasive issue of the more than 1,200 smoke shops selling unlicensed and unregulated cannabis and related products.

Mayor Eric Adams launched a joint task force in November to combat the proliferation of the stores, but now the union representing the city’s deputy sheriffs has questioned if its members have the authority to carry out these crackdowns, according to a report by the news website The City .

“We have been unable to find any legislation related to the inspection of unlicensed retail locations, or any cannabis legislation mentioning the sheriff as an enforcement officer,” reads the letter from the deputy sheriffs’ union, dated Feb. 2 and ad- dressed to Sylvia Hinds-Radix, who leads the Law Department; Department of Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack; and Sheriff Anthony Miranda.

Ingrid Simonovic, president of the Deputy Sheriffs’ Benevolent Association, said that it should not fall to sheriff’s deputies to conduct these inspections. As things stand, under the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, enacted in 2021, the state Office of Cannabis Management is responsible for inspecting legal dispensaries. Simonovic said it should be that office’s responsibility to inspect unlicensed shops as well.

“It’s confusing for the public, it’s confusing for legislators, but it’s not confusing, at least to the union, because we know what our authority is, and that is not one of our authorities,” she told Crain’s. “We are clear on what we are authorized to do. The city seems not to be clear, and they’re not explaining to us.” Simonovic added, “My members and the union are concerned that we are crossing those lines and violating people’s rights.”

Pilot program

The task force the mayor formed in November includes the sheriff’s office, the city Police Department, the city Office of Consumer and Worker Protection and the state’s Office of Cannabis Management. During the task force’s two-week pilot program in the fall, inspectors visited 53 storefronts and seized more than 100,000 illegal products worth an estimated $4 million .

The sheriff’s office, a division of the Department of Finance, is authorized to conduct a regulatory inspection of a shop that has a cigarette or tobacco license displayed, according to the city’s administrative code. A sheriff’s deputy can conduct an inspection if an unli- censed shop is advertising the sale of these products without a license.

But because the code doesn’t mention cannabis, and because the task force is primarily looking to seize cannabis products, these inspections should require a warrant, Department of Finance employees said, speaking to Crain’s on the condition of anonymity.

“I can’t stop you and search you, find a gun, and then arrest you. How did that interaction start, legally? That’s the question that we still have not had answered,” one of the Finance Department employees said. “What was the legal authority to initiate that [inspection]? There are a lot of gray areas, and we’re trying to get it in black and white. We want to be out of the shadows: ‘This is what we should be doing. These are the laws.’ ”

An Adams administration representative said the sheriff’s office has the authority to inspect shops and can seize anything if deputies uncover unlawful activities during the inspection.

“Our law enforcement entities involved in the multiagency task force have broad legal authorities to conduct business inspections, which have been exercised for years and allow for the seizing of illegal contraband,” said Jonah Allon, the mayor’s deputy press secretary.

“While we continue to call on the state Legislature to make changes to the cannabis law that would strengthen the city’s enforcement capabilities further, the multiagency citywide task force created under the leadership of Mayor Adams remains committed to utilizing its legal authority to ensure businesses are in full compliance with the law,” Allon said.

The city has escalated its efforts by targeting landlords who rent to retailers suspected of selling illegal marijuana products. ■

BUCK ENNIS