NEW YORK (WABC) — A state-licensed cannabis dispensary will open its doors Thursday near Times Square.
The opening of “Nicklz” on 48th Street and Eighth Avenue comes as the city fights to crack down on illegal weed shops.
The shop will legally sell only state-approved and certified cannabis products.
The shop’s owner is supported by the New York Cannabis Social Equity Investment Fund, which is a public-private fund created to provide opportunities to those who have spent time in the criminal justice system and received a dispensary license from the state office of cannabis management.
The market has thus far been saturated with dozens of illegal storefronts, with some selling a lot more than weed.
Many of those illegal shops have been shut down in recent weeks. The owners and landlords were handed stiff fines and penalties in order to protect the state’s licensed sellers who have been stifled.
And aside from the economic loss, those illegal shops sell unregulated products. No one knows where they came from. Packaging, which is often colorful, has also become an issue as it tends to attract children.
Nicklz stands directly across the street from an illegal weed dealer selling cheaper and unregulated products.
That shop, and another less than a block away, have been closed by police and padlocked under a new initiative to protect licensed cannabis sellers.
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