GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. — On February 27, the Erie Co. Sheriff's Office seized cannabis and cash from an illegal dispensary on Grand Island Boulevard.
Thomas Muscoreil, 23, was charged with criminal possession of cannabis 2nd degree, which is a Class E Felony, for selling cannabis concentrate, cannabis edibles, and cannabis flower.
Muscoreil operates the Island Smoke Shop, and Island Smoke Shop 2 on Grand Island Boulevard.
Despite the seizure of cannabis by the sheriff's office, the business remains open.
The investigation into the activities at the two illegal dispensaries started after ESCO received a tip from Grand Island Central School District Superintendent Dr. Brian Graham.
During a recent community forum, the school received anonymous information that the business was selling cannabis to students.
"We did our own internal investigation, gathered more information, and then we turned that information over to the sheriff's department," Dr. Graham said.
Graham says the district has been confiscating cannabis products from students on campus, much of it being synthetic.
His concern is that synthetic cannabis and vape products are often tampered with.
"What we discovered was that the cannabis that kids are gaining access to is laced oftentimes with opioids, laced with amphetamines laced with bath salts," Graham said. "What we're discovering is that the black market vendors are trying to hook the kids early,"
The district experienced, what Graham called, a significant situation last year when cannabis residue was discovered on school grounds
"When I say we had a significant issue, we had such a significant issue that a few adults had to go and get treated by their physicians," Graham said.
After that incident, and information received at the community forum, Graham says he tipped off ECSO to the alleged illegal activities at the Island Smoke Shops.
"Law enforcement was added so quickly, and I was just so pleased with the Erie County Sheriff's Department," Graham said.
ECSO's Chief of Narcotics and Investigations DJ Granville says the office is looking to ramp up investigations into illegal cannabis dispensaries.
"We are taking a closer look at the illegal shops, especially when they're directly into a community where there's high traffic and other items other than marijuana being sold out of the stores," Granville said.
Granville believes many of these dispensaries are part of a larger, organized criminal effort.
"To be blunt? Yes. We believe them to be involved in other illegal businesses," Granville said.
But as to how many there are in Erie County, Granville didn't give an estimated figure.
Even at the state level, as Governor Hochul announces her third crackdown on illegal cannabis dispensaries in less than a year, no one seems to know just how many there are.
A spokesperson for the Governor's office cited a figure that estimated 1,500 illegal dispensaries in the New York City area.
The spokesperson, however, didn't give a statewide figure.
But using New York City as a baseline, it's easy to assume there could be thousands of illegal dispensaries throughout the state.