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Before it was a legal dispensary where the mayor hoped to raise campaign funds, the site held an illicit weed shop raided by the city. Some of its operators are still around.
April 23, 2025, 1:02 p.m. ET
Mayor Eric Adams of New York City visited a legal cannabis dispensary owned by a longtime ally last week, hoping to raise money for his struggling re-election campaign from a constituency that has benefited from his administration’s closure of illegal weed shops.
Before stopping by the shop, called Sweetlife, last Thursday, Mr. Adams met with a small crowd of dispensary owners and brand salespeople at a bar next door. He said his administration had saved jobs by allowing small businesses to fix violations before slapping them with fines.
“My small business services went into establishments like these, and stated, we’re going to find ways not to fine you, we’re going to find ways to give you a cure period to correct whatever conditions you’re dealing with so that you can keep your business open and operating,” he said.
Left unsaid during the event was the fact that the dispensary is owned and managed by people who previously operated a bakery, located in the same Upper East Side storefront, that was shut down by the city in 2023 for selling cannabis-infused snacks without a license.
Mr. Adams was unaware of the connection, his campaign said. But it turned an event intended to showcase his accomplishments into one that highlighted the gap between the city’s enforcement against rogue shops and the state’s promise to keep their owners out of the legal cannabis market.
New York legalized cannabis in 2021 with the goal of propping up small businesses that would help repair communities hit hardest in the past by marijuana enforcement.
