This stamp verifies New York’s legal weed shops

If you do not see this stamp on any packaging or retail outlet, smoke at your own risk.

Today (December 15), New York Gov . Kathy Hochul introduced the labeling system the state will use to label licensed cannabis businesses and retail products.

When stores open later this month, the New York State Licensed Cannabis Dispensary verification stamp will be displayed in legally licensed retail storefront windows. The goal is to ensure consumers know they are purchasing from a New York state licensed and regulated pharmacy.

If you don’t see this stamp on a storefront or packaging, it’s not legal. (Leafly / iStock: 400t max)

The symbol will be universal – it must by law appear on every licensed cannabis product. The goal is to give consumers confidence that their products are laboratory tested and regulated for potency and purity. The symbol will appear in the storefronts of every legally licensed cannabis store and will contain a QR code that consumers can instantly scan to verify its authenticity. A similar version of the verification tool will be available for licensees looking to drive sales through delivery.

“It is critical for New York’s cannabis consumers to understand the risks of purchasing untested, illegal products and have the tools to guide them to a safer, legal market that is about to open. These tools will help protect public health and strengthen our ability to create the equitable cannabis market that our law envisions. We will continue to work with our partners in communities across the state to enforce the law and take down illegal operators selling products that endanger New Yorkers.”

Governor Kathy Hochul

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul gives a press conference at the State Capitol in Albany, NY on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 (AP Photo / Hans Pennink)

Launch of the “Why Buy Legal New York” campaign.

With more and more retail cannabis stores opening in 2023, the state plans to launch a public education campaign called Why Buy Legal New York to explain the benefits of buying legal cannabis for adults in New York State. The campaign will discuss the risks of purchasing untested illegal products and how these products undermine the New York Cannabis Law’s goals of building the nation’s fairest and most inclusive cannabis market.

“We will use every tool available to strengthen the fair, legal, adult-use cannabis market that we are building, and the Dispensary Verification Tool unveiled today by Governor Hochul is one step in that process,” said Chris Alexander, Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management. “Our enforcement team has expanded its partnerships and activities from Buffalo to New York City and will continue to do so until these illegal businesses and trucks are closed.”

New York’s OCM, Sheriff’s Office and NYPD rob an unlicensed cannabis store in Brooklyn in November 2022. (LLN NYC)

Last month, the OCM and other local law enforcement agencies teamed up to search several storefronts posing as licensed pharmacies. The OCM said it intends to take a “no handcuffs, no criminal charges” approach to the state’s unlicensed cannabis sellers. This year, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said subpoenas, fines and civil penalties are the only planned enforcement actions for the gray and illegal markets. Businesses that break tobacco and vape regulations don’t seem to have the same leeway.

And as for your local dealer, as long as he stays within this state’s possession limit of three ounces of flowers at any given time, he should be fine.

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