New York officials are signaling a possible enforcement and legislative response to cannabis-based drinks being sold illegally in local grocery stores and bodegas. Unlicensed shops across the city have been stocking beverages that may exceed the state's potency rules, while regulators and lawmakers consider how to address sales outside the licensed market. The comments describe a prospective response, not a new statewide ban already in effect.
New York requires a specific license to sell hemp-based drinks, and the state restricts stronger THC beverages to licensed dispensaries. Yet grocery stores and bodegas have been selling cannabis drinks outside those channels, as reported by the New York Post. The outlet found cannabis drinks for sale at unlicensed delis and grocery stores this past summer. Chelsea Davis, Governor Kathy Hochul's deputy secretary for gaming, cannabis and alcohol, told the Post that the black-market sale of CBD drinks and the current status quo were untenable.
A Regulatory Gray Zone Consumers Cannot See
Industry representatives say product labels and retail locations do not always make the legal distinction clear to shoppers. Joe Rossi told the Post that consumers may not distinguish between hemp-derived THC products and cannabis sold through the regulated market, while the industry has developed faster than the rules. Hemp is a cannabis plant that typically lacks enough THC to produce a high, while marijuana has enough THC to get someone high; THC is the component responsible for that effect.
That distinction matters under New York's own rulebook. Legal retail hemp-derived cannabinoid beverages sold outside dispensaries are capped at just 1 milligram of total THC per serving and 10 milligrams per package, with a mandatory minimum 15:1 CBD-to-THC ratio, according to Floral Beverages. Anything stronger is supposed to be sold only through licensed adult-use dispensaries, not the corner bodega.
What New York's rules and enforcement mean
Under the New York framework described above, cannabinoid hemp beverages sold outside licensed dispensaries are limited to 1 milligram of total THC per serving and 10 milligrams per package, with a required 15:1 CBD-to-THC ratio; stronger products are supposed to remain in the licensed adult-use dispensary system. Enforcement has continued alongside that distinction: according to the New York State Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board, OCM completed 2,017 enforcement actions and seized more than $20 million worth of illicit cannabis product in 2025. The Cannabis Control Board reported that 705 legal dispensaries were open statewide as of its August 6, 2026, meeting. The enforcement strategy has also faced legal scrutiny. In a separate Queens case on Oct. 29, New York Supreme Court Justice Kevin J. Kerrigan ruled that the city's padlocking process violated the business owner's due-process rights and ordered the seal removed from Cloud Corner, according to Cannabis Business Times.
Albany's Stalled Fix and a Looming Federal Deadline
State lawmakers have proposed one possible change: allowing liquor stores to sell THC drinks after obtaining a permit. State Senator Jeremy Cooney and Assemblymember John Zaccaro introduced companion bills, S9220 and A10191, in February that would allow licensed liquor and wine stores to sell low-potency cannabis drinks containing up to 5 milligrams of THC, according to Forbes. Albany did not pass the proposal this session, according to the Post, leaving the existing restrictions in place. Davis told the Post that the issue could become a priority for the governor in next year's legislative session and that unlicensed cannabis drinks may be targeted in Albany next year. State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal has also called on state regulators to act, according to the Post.
Davis went further, telling the Post that the unlicensed beverages are cannibalizing New York's own legal cannabis dispensaries, which the state has spent years trying to build up. That framing echoes broader enforcement trends: legal adult-use dispensary sales across New York City jumped 72% over the 12 months following the 2024 launch of joint city and state smoke shop padlocking operations, according to Thompson Coburn. That same task force, known as Operation Padlock to Protect, padlocked more than 1,400 unlicensed cannabis sellers and seized over $95 million in illegal products within its first year.
Washington's Total-THC Cap Adds Pressure
Complicating matters further is a federal ban on cannabis drinks that lawmakers in Washington enacted, with a deadline that has been delayed to December 2026. The change stems from a federal spending package that redefines hemp under a total THC standard capped at 0.4 milligrams per finished container, with an enforcement deadline originally set for November 2026, according to Venable LLP. That threshold is far stricter than even New York's own cap, and it threatens to wipe out most intoxicating hemp seltzers nationwide regardless of what any individual state decides to do.
New York isn't alone in scrambling to adjust. Neighboring New Jersey has already moved to restrict retail sales of intoxicating hemp beverages exclusively to licensed liquor stores and adult-use dispensaries starting in April, ahead of a complete state prohibition set for November, according to the Asian American Retailers Association. For now, though, New York shoppers can still find unregulated cannabis drinks sitting on bodega shelves, a gap regulators and lawmakers both say they intend to close.
