Our Bureau
South Queens, NY
On Tuesday, April 9 at 1:00 pm at the Million Dollar Staircase at the Capitol Building in Albany, Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar brought together Harlem community leaders calling for passage of her SMOKEOUT Act (A8428A/S7998A). The bill grants municipalities across the State, including New York City, the authority to immediately shutter all illegal, unlicensed smoke shops once and for all. Joining the Assemblywoman will be her Albany colleagues, Tiffany Fulton of Silent Voices United, Inc., Darrell Fulton of Medianus, Inc., Ruth McDaniels of Breaking the Chains of Your Mind, Gilda Gillim of Tulinde, LLC, Prime Freedmen of United Sons & Daughters of Freedmen, and many more members of the Harlem community, most importantly 30 Harlem children who would be endangered by the opening of an illegal shop next door to them.
The rally called upon Albany leadership to include the SMOKEOUT Act in the State’s enacted budget. Harlem families, outraged that an unlicensed smoke shop is opening next to Heaven’s Tiny Tots Daycare and Learning Center run by Tameka Silva, are converging on the capital to call for municipalities to be granted the power to immediately close illegal shops.
Co-sponsoring the SMOKEOUT Act are State Senators Leroy Comrie, Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Rob Rolison, and Bill Weber; and Assemblymembers Michael Benedetto, George Alvarez, John Zaccaro Jr., Sam Berger, Stacey Pheffer Amato, Alicia Hyndman, Anil Beephan Jr., Juan Ardila, Grace Lee, Keith Brown, Joe Angelino, Marianne Buttenschon, Brian Cunningham, and Monica P. Wallace.
Tuesday’s rally marks another stop on Assemblywoman Rajkumar’s “Operation: SMOKEOUT” tour, which has already made stops at City Hall, Times Square, Queens, the Bronx, and Harlem. Every rally has drawn support from elected officials, business leaders, community leaders, and New Yorkers of every background.
Illegal smoke shops are able to operate with almost total impunity because local municipalities lack the authority to enforce cannabis law violations. The State’s Cannabis Control Board in Albany has the sole authority to shutter smoke shops, and it has only closed nine. The Cannabis Control Board has 14 inspectors for the entire State and lacks the resources and manpower that local municipalities have to shut down the shops.
Upon passage of Assemblywoman Rajkumar’s SMOKEOUT Act (Stop Marijuana Overproliferation and Keep Empty Operators of Unlicensed Transactions), New York City and all municipalities across the State will have the authority to close illegal smoke shops and seize all merchandise.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has endorsed the SMOKEOUT Act, and he has said it will allow him to close all the illegal smoke shops in New York City within 30 days. The SMOKEOUT Act has also been endorsed by the Editorial Boards of the New York Daily News, New York Post, Buffalo News, and Queens Chronicle.
The SMOKEOUT Act has also been endorsed by major organizations including Times Square Alliance, the Partnership for New York City, the East Midtown Partnership, the Cannabis Association of New York, the New York Cannabis Retail Association, New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda, and law enforcement across the State.
Illegal smoke shops have ballooned in number exponentially over the past 3 years. There are now an estimated 36,000 illegal smoke shops in New York State, including approximately 3,000 in New York City alone.
