New York State’s economy is lighting up after it reached $1 billion in legal cannabis sales, state-department officials announced on Tuesday.
The NYS Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) released its 2024 annual report, which shows the budding industry is growing throughout the state. In addition to the billion-dollar sales revenue generated by the legal market through last full week of 2024, OCM issued over 5,000 licenses, permits and registrations, and conducted 1,300 enforcement inspections.
Nearly 300 adult-use dispensaries are now open throughout the state. The pot pros in charge called the OCM report’s findings a “milestone” in the case for recreational pot, which became legal statewide in 2021.
“This milestone is a testament to the resilience, hard work and innovation of cannabis entrepreneurs across New York,” Felicia A.B. Reid, OCM’s acting executive director, said in a press release. “As $1 billion is an incredible number, let us celebrate the individuals, businesses, and communities in cannabis who drive our state’s economic engine.”
According to the report, tax revenue generated from licensed cannabis sales will be reinvested into community programs, public health initiatives and the development of New York’s cannabis infrastructure.
amNew York Metro reached out to OCM to ask which specific projects the industry will fund and is awaiting a response.
In the meantime, Reid said the impressive sales revenue speaks to the strong demand for cannabis products.
“Certainly, this moment underscores the strength of consumer demand for regulated cannabis. More importantly, it firmly demonstrates that a social and economic equity approach to industry is not antithetical to strong economic growth,” she said. “New Yorkers have placed their trust in a market that prioritizes equity, and OCM remains committed to supporting that mission.”
On the subject of equity, officials also boasted achievements made last year in community partnerships and training. In partnership with the Cannabis Advisory Board, the agency opened the application window for Community Reinvestment Program grants. This program, officials said, will invest in neighborhoods that have been historically under-resourced, underserved and over-policed.
The agency also made headway by creating a Veterans Taskforce aimed at supporting, educating and providing resources related to cannabis to the veterans throughout the state.
Meanwhile, some local elected officials from NYC have held rallies and had discussions aimed at puffing away legalized pot.
On Aug. 21, 2024, several Staten Island politicians rallied in front of Clouditude, the soon-to-open legal pot shop on Staten Island. With a group of residents at hand, the politicians said the state “was never ready” for legalized pot.
“It’s not just that this location is not a good location for a cannabis dispensary, no location is a good location for a cannabis dispensary,” NYS Assembly Member Michael Tannousis said at the rally.
Recreation and revenue aside, the OCM report also details the state’s Medical Cannabis Program, which started in 2016. As of Jan. 2, 2025, more than 100,000 patients registered with the program.
There are also nearly 8,500 registered caregivers in the program, with 21 medical dispensaries throughout New York, the report states.
Shutting illegal pot shop and a sheriff under investigation
The OCM reports that state-wide, law enforcement seized nearly 17,000 pounds of unlicensed cannabis products with an estimated street value of over $68 million.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Sheriff Anthony Miranda were jointly on a roll closing down illegal pot shops almost as quickly as they popped up in 2024.
As part of the city’s Operation Padlock to Protect, the team smoked out a number of illegal cannabis retailers throughout the boroughs, including a site in the Bronx that was growing 93 cannabis plants and 24 pounds of loose cannabis flower in September.
Even as Miranda became the focus of a city Department of Investigation corruption probe in September 2024, the mayor’s office reported that as of Jan. 14 of this year, more than 1,300 stores selling illegal weed were shutdown.
