Local Pol Continues Battle Against Illegal Upper West Side Smoke Shops

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Upper West Side Council Member Gale Brewer tweeted out her frustration Wednesday about a local smoke shop replenishing its unregulated cannabis supplies just two days after she oversaw an inspection from the city's Sheriff's Office that cleaned out the business' inventory.

The Zaza Waza Smoke Shop at 550 Columbus Ave. was the second stop on an inspection last week that saw the Sheriff's Office seize unregulated cannabis products from Upper West Side stores.

However, it looks like the seizure only temporarily slowed down one of the many new neighborhood smoke shops.

"Me outside Zaza Waza Smoke Shop on Columbus Ave two weeks ago while @NYCSHERIFF
was inside seizing their entire inventory — 100s of unregulated cannabis products," Brewer tweeted on Wednesday. "2 days later they were restocked and selling. For now there is virtually nothing the City or State can do about it."

Me outside Zaza Waza Smoke Shop on Columbus Ave two weeks ago while @NYCSHERIFF was inside seizing their entire inventory -- 100s of unregulated cannabis products. 2 days later they were restocked and selling. For now there is virtually nothing the City or State can do about it. pic.twitter.com/fpWHlCJnAv
— Gale A. Brewer (@galeabrewer) January 18, 2023

During the inspection of the recently opened Zaza Waza Smoke Shop, officers seized flavored vape pens, untaxed cigarettes, cannabis and THC products, NY1 reported.

Brewer stood outside the shop as the officers performed the inspection.

A deputy conducting the inspection told NY1 that the number of products seized would cost the business tens of thousands of dollars. That figure also doesn't include the violations and fines that are subsequently issued.

In total, 17 bags full of illegal products were taken from the Zaza Waza Smoke Shop, NY1 reported.

Brewer tweeted out her frustration Wednesday with the current status of smoke shops on the Upper West Side on the same day that a hearing on the "Proliferation of Unlicensed Smoke Shops in NYC" held by the Oversight and Investigations Committee took place.

The first licensed marijuana dispensary opened in Lower Manhattan at the end of the year.

The opening came more than a year after New York legalized the use of recreational marijuana in March 2021.

While regulations and approvals are still being decided on by the Office of Cannabis Management, smoke shops have continued to take advantage of the gap in the process.

Part of the issue has to do with inspection capacity from the NYC Sheriff's Office.

There is currently a list of 1,200 cannabis shops the office wants to inspect, but the department can only send out officers for inspection to a few stores once per week, a testimony from Wednesday's Oversight Committee explained.

This rate means it would take years to inspect the illegal smoke shops already opened across the city.