New York state launched a public consciousness marketing campaign to steer customers towards a brief listing of licensed marijuana retailers and away from a whole lot that function illegally.
The “Why Purchase Authorized New York” bulletins emphasize the potential well being dangers related to buying hashish merchandise from unlicensed companies and why regulated merchandise are safer, based on a information launch.
The marketing campaign additionally highlights how legal-product purchases assist the state’s social and financial fairness targets ushered in as a part of legalizing possession and grownup use in March 2021.
“To bolster the general public well being and security of all New Yorkers, we’re offering them with info they should make knowledgeable choices and revel in hashish responsibly,” Gov. Kathy Hochul mentioned in an announcement.
The primarily digital marketing campaign, which targets hashish customers 21 and older, consists of guides on safer hashish consumption and discovering licensed dispensaries.
The state has eight operational adult-use dispensaries, far fewer than predicted by Hochul and state regulators earlier than the launch of leisure gross sales Dec. 30.
Final fall, Hochul had mentioned the market was “on observe” to open 20 stores monthly.
Unlicensed marijuana gross sales have flourished in New York for years, fueled by pop-up vans and vans, bicycle deliveries and unlawful bodegas and consumption lounges.
In mid-December Hochul unveiled a verification placard to tell apart between licensed and illicit hashish operators in New York.
The verification features a QR code that may be scanned by customers and others.
As many as 1,400 unlicensed shops are promoting marijuana merchandise in New York Metropolis alone, which has jeopardized the state’s uneven rollout of adult-use retail.
