POUGHKEEPSIE – City of Poughkeepsie police executed search warrants at three illegal marijuana dispensaries on Tuesday, seizing the weed in the process. The police department’s Neighborhood Recovery Unit (NRU) raided two unlicensed dispensaries on Academy Street and one on Main Street.
The illegal retailers on Academy Street have been credited with creating traffic issues when their customers pull up and double-park their vehicles while running in to purchase marijuana or any number of available edible forms, advertised on a whiteboard in the window of 13 Academy Street. The same store was previously shut down by city officials in November after building inspectors noticed several violations. The store reopened the same evening after city inspectors had finished their workday.
A second unlicensed marijuana retailer at 25 Academy Street, operating as a convenience store at the corner of Canon and Academy Streets was also raided by the NRU, with an undisclosed amount of weed being seized. Both stores remained open after police left.
A store located at 196 Main Street, just west of Columbus Drive, was also the subject of a search warrant for operating an unlicensed dispensary out of the storefront. At 5:30 p.m., unlike the Academy Street shops, the illegal retailer’s store was locked and the interior lights were shut off.
The NRU was assisted by members of the Dutchess County Drug Task Force and members of the New York State Police. Police told Mid-Hudson News that the investigation is ongoing.
