New York’s legal pot shops more than doubled in 2025 — as sales surpassed $2.5B
More New Yorkers got high on legal pot last year — despite some dopey bungling by the state’s cannabis regulators.
New York’s legal cannabis market surpassed $2.5 billion in sales — including more than $1.5 billion in business for 2025 alone — following an initial rocky rollout three years ago, the Office of Cannabis Management said in its annual report. The number of licensed weed shops statewide also more than doubled — to 556 from 261 in 2024 — including more than 200 dispensaries located in New York City.
“Surpassing $2.5 billion in adult-use sales is a major milestone,” said Susan Filburn, acting executive director of the New York State Office of Cannabis Management.
“This Annual Report reflects the market New Yorkers have built together over the past year. We expanded access to regulated, tested cannabis products, strengthened consumer protections, and continued to advance an equity-centered market framework,” said Filburn.
But the progress could have been better if not for stumbles by OCM, critics said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul asked for the resignation of OCM executive director Felicia Reid last month after the agency bungled an enforcement case against a licensed pot distributor amid struggles to enforce a crackdown against illicit products being smuggled into the state’s legal market.
“Too often, the Office of Cannabis Management has stood in the way of the market realizing its potential, including most recently in the case of a pending compliance action that it has had to withdraw,” Hochul said.
Felicia Reid
Reid is the second CEO replaced in less than two years. Her predecessor, Chris Alexander, resigned in May 2024 following a scathing audit by Hochul’s office after the governor branded the launch of adult-use marijuana sales a “disaster.”
Earlier last year, OCM officials admitted that they’d mistakenly calculated the distance rules for separating weed shops under the law, a goof that has to be corrected by the legislature.
“In 2025 the illicit market has continued to grow and expand into other areas as shown when the NYC Sheriff raided an illicit warehouse in Jersey City,” Orduna said.
“Online based illicit operators continue to operate throughout the state, much more needs to be done to combat the public safety threat that the illicit market poses to communities throughout the state.”
