Earlier on June 18th, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that in just 3 weeks, more than 100 illicit storefronts across the state were shut down by the New York State Cannabis Enforcement Task Force. The State’s commitment to shutting down these unlicensed cannabis storefronts has directly contributed to a 27 percent increase in legal cannabis sales in areas impacted by the Task Force’s enforcement activities.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning. All across New York, there's a change in the air and I'm not talking about the heat wave. The Mayor and I have spoken enough about the heat wave — we hope it goes away quickly. Everybody stay cool.

But New York State is rapidly building the most expansive, equitable cannabis market in the nation. One that uplifts black and brown New Yorkers who have been victimized by the war on drugs. It delivers opportunities to underserved communities and cracks down on the unlicensed retailers who've taken over our neighborhoods. And ultimately, our law enforcement efforts are about more than seizing power. They're about restoring power to the people who deserved it and still do. So, let's give that a round of applause.

I want to thank so many partners — the true believers, the ones who never gave up. As we walk through and start to talk today about tangible results as we're delivering for the legal cannabis owners throughout our State.

And I first of all want to recognize our great Mayor — you'll be hearing from him in a moment. Mayor Adams, thank you for standing side by side together with me to say no more, no more. It is unfair that our new businesses starting out — people who have suffered and struggled and staved and scrimped and finally had that chance. We're being flooded by the illegal operators who made it almost impossible for them to earn what they thought they would and to keep their doors open.

That era is over, and I thank you for your incredible partnership, Mayor Eric Adams. Thank you so much again Felicia Reid, Executive Deputy Director and the Acting Executive Director of OCM — Felicia Reid is up for this job. I want to thank her. You need to get to know her. She's an extraordinary leader and I'm so grateful for her partnership.

You're going to hear from Christopher West, the First Deputy Superintendent of the New York State Police. We'll tell you what we're doing at the state level as well.

We stood up a Task Force to go after the illegal cannabis shops all over New York to compliment what the Mayor is doing in the City. And you'll also be hearing from Leeann Mata, the CEO of Matawana. She has not stopped smiling since we started enforcing the laws — the new laws that we'll talk about — because she has seen her business grow by — was it 100 percent you said? Since the enforcement started, the illegals were taken out of her neighborhood. That's what we're talking about.

But it doesn't happen just by us alone. It's partners in our legislature. I want to thank all of them. They are recognized, but our senators and our assemblymembers who also brought the message from their districts back to Albany and said, “We need to stand together. We need stronger enforcement tools. This status quo can be no longer.”

And to the City councilmembers as well, thank you for having a united force against the illegal cannabis shops and standing up for our young entrepreneurs who have just been waiting for that chance to live the American dream. Thank you to our legislators. Thank you, and all the advocates

There's one word I hear over and over and it is excitement. People are — consumers are excited. You're going to hear about some of the customers of Leeann. Growers are overjoyed that they can finally have a market for their harvest. I was just in some of the big growing areas in upstate New York. They're excited about this. And civic leaders and community leaders are talking about the economic transformation that has been long overdue as these businesses deliver and bring resources that we can now, as a State, reinvest in these neighborhoods. And these small business owners — my God, they're resilient. You're the ones who make New York so fascinating. Thank you for holding on because a new day has arrived.

It's a new era for the cannabis industry right here in the State of New York. This is a pivotal moment without a doubt. Now, we know the rollout has not gone as smoothly as we would have hoped. We've talked about that before, but that's the past, we look forward. Many people struggle — the struggles need to be over. And I want to say, it's up to all of us to get it right.

And I'm so glad to be joined, as I mentioned, by Felicia Reid, the Executive Director. She just took over this role on Monday, and guess what? She's still with it. So, thank you very much. She is uniquely qualified to excel. She has a wealth of experience in government and a deep background in overseeing complex operations. No one is better suited to meet this moment right now, and she's the perfect leader to assist us as we transition and work with Tremaine Wright, who's also been working so hard to get this right. I want to thank Tremaine for all her leadership. Thank you, Tremaine. We worked together back when she was in elective office, and she — I know how much she cares about her neighborhoods. I want to thank you for your leadership as well, but we're on a cusp of a better tomorrow.

OCM is making the necessary reforms, the way they do business, better results for our small businesses, unclogging the licensing bottleneck, streamlining the application process, improving communications, right? Just telling people your status, where it's at, likely to be approved or not. Should I invest any more money, any more time, any more energy? Just let me know, right? Just give people answers. And hiring new staff to empower OCM to do what they wanted to do all along and to make sure that our compliance is working.

Now let's talk about enforcement because this was the barrier to a lot of the success. How do the legal businesses thrive if the illegal ones are dominating the market? They got a head start. They jumped out of the box and there they were renting the spaces, dotting every street corner and all the spaces in between. Sometimes it feels like — and guess what they're also doing – they're marketing to our kids. Okay. Children should not be going into a store buying Hostess Cupcakes, Puff Mallow, or Sugar Cookie Pebbles. I mean, this is designed for one purpose and that is to get our young people hooked early on and get them wanting this and craving this. That's not allowed in the State of New York – not under the age of 21. But this is for little kids. That's what we're going after as well. And I'm sick and tired of the abuses that have gone on up until this point. Leave our kids alone. Let the legal industry prosper.

And what we're doing is going after the bad actors. At my direction, the State Police has launched a Cannabis Enforcement Task Force, giving OCM the resources it needs. And we've been striving to reach our goal of shutting down the majority of these illegal stores in 90 days. They've been at it about a month now. Again, thank you to our incredible Legislature for giving the tools we need to be able to do this in our last Budget. Just got that done. The regulations — yes, give another round of applause to our legislators. Thank you.

And this multi-agency effort bolstered by our tax and finance criminal investigators tackled cannabis trafficking, illegal dispensaries, and made it more difficult. It's a great model of collaboration among government levels as well. And I want to thank all the people who've worked on that. So far, our state level, again, you'll hear from the Mayor about the city level, okay?

But together, we're having a real impact. Over 187 inspections, seizing 3,200 pounds of cannabis products worth nearly $30 million. My friend, that is one month's worth of effort. $30 million seized and padlocked 114 unlicensed shops already. So, we're going after the landlords too. The landlords who knowingly rent to illegal shops, okay? It's just common sense.

And to all the advocates, God bless you. You've been coming to our events, we've been standing together, you've been having meetings with us, and I'm so proud that we stood together, fought together for these powers, that it was expanded – expanded authority was enacted in our State Budget, and we’re making a real difference.

We've seen legal sales rise dramatically in the enforcement. She likes that. There she is. In the enforcement areas, the progress is clear. First week of May to the first week in June, legal sales are up 27 percent. Let me break that down for you. For 24 stores in the enforcement areas, that means over a million dollars in additional revenue or $35,000 per store in just one month. That makes the difference between staying open and closing. That means you can continue paying good wages to your workers. It means that your supply coming up from the farmers can have a resource, a place to sell it. It means you're going to be prosperous; you're going to be able to finally live the dreams that you've been delayed for too long.

Last year, legal sales totaled $160 million for the entire year. Already, we've surpassed $200 million. We're on pace to pass $13 million a week — but it's more about the “do” than the dollars, right? It's more than the dollars. It's about small business owners being able to take care of their families, right?

That's all they want. They just want a shot. And I want to thank people like Leanne, who you'll hear from — but Alfredo Anguiera, remember, he couldn't make it here. He's got a new baby; we gave him a pass. I was in the Bronx a week ago, and I saw him. He came to visit me. I never saw anybody as happy as Alfredo.

It might have been the new baby, I'm not sure — but he says they literally shut down. I think he said four or seven “illegals" in his neighborhood, there's many more. He said his sales went up 70 percent since they shut down those ones in his neighborhood. Think about that. That's what I'm talking about.

And that's why we're going to continue pursuing our enforcement measures. So every small business owner — black, Latino, women, immigrant, veteran business owners — all of them are prioritized. This is what equity looks like. Not just on paper when we pass legislation. Again, the legislators knew what they were doing. They knew their priorities but it's up to us to implement that and make it become a reality. Because they stake their futures on this industry, and this industry is a testament to a fairer future. One that rights the wrongs of the past. And two-thirds of our legal dispensaries are minority and women owned businesses.

And just last year, because of New York, we've doubled the number of legal black-owned dispensaries that exist nationwide — when you factor our numbers in as well. So, we're proud of this, we're going to continue our efforts, and we're going to stop those illegal sellers from operating the way they were.

New sheriff in town. And I want to thank the New York Sheriff for all the work he has done as well with his teams and working with, so closely with the Mayor. And we're just getting off the ground. This really means something to me. It means that if we believe in something strongly enough, that we have to fight for it.

And we need to make changes to get it right. We'll go back and change whatever needs to change in the law, and that's exactly what our Legislature and I did this last session. So, change is in the air, as I said. Sometimes you have to change the laws. Sometimes you have to change your direction. Sometimes you have to change your focus.

But ultimately, change is going to make New York State the state it always should have been. More equitable, fairer and more just for the people who call it home. Thank you very much everyone.

Mayor Eric Adams let's hear what you're doing at the city level, because I know you're very proud of the enforcement levels here — the great work that you and your teams are doing. Ladies and gentlemen, Mayor Eric Adams.