Upper West Side inundated with unlicensed spots to buy marijuana; "What do you do about all this?"
NEW YORK - Illegal marijuana shops are popping up like weeds around New York City.
So much so that when Councilmember Gale Brewer checked on 61 convenience stores and smoke shops on the Upper West Side recently, she found 26 selling without a license.
"I was totally surprised, and I must admit that I saw one across the street from our district office and I said 'What's that,'" Brewer said.
You are allowed to smoke pot recreationally in the state, but businesses need a license to sell. With only a handful approved so far, people are taking advantage of an under-regulated market. Brewer is worried about the health and economic consequences.
"If I've gone through all that paperwork in Albany and I'm selling legally, oh my goodness, if all around me are these illegal shops, how am I going to make money?" Brewer said.
CBS2's Christina Fan visited several alleged sellers on the councilwoman's list Monday, but employees denied knowing anything.
"Do you know if you have any marijuana for sale?" Fan asked.
"You are going to have to talk to my boss when he gets here," one person said.
Brewer says the solution is more enforcement, but guidance is needed from the state.
"Now the question is what do you do about all this? The cannabis office in Albany can regulate those that are legal, but it can't regulate those that are illegal," Brewer said.
A spokesperson from the mayor's office says locally, crackdowns have resulted in the seizure of 100,000 packages of illegal product.
Brewers says she's working with the sheriff's office on more enforcement.