![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776717908_376_20260418_Frangipane_Paul_Hii_NYC_Opening_14.jpg\" "\\"Illicit")
Brooklyn\u2019s latest dispensary, Hii in Bay Ridge, opened on April 28, just in time for 4\/20. Photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\nThis 4\/20, Brooklynites are celebrating their favorite plant with everything from sunset yoga and weed festivals to a quick trip to one of nearly 80 legal dispensaries to refresh their stock.<\/p>\n
But just a few years ago, Brooklyn\u2019s legal cannabis scene was practically nonexistent. For decades, New Yorkers faced harsh penalties if they were arrested for smoking or possessing marijuana, and the state only rolled out its medical marijuana program in 2016.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn\u2019s latest dispensary, Hii in Bay Ridge, opened on April 28, just in time for 4\/20. Photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n
Court battles prevented legal recreational dispensaries from opening in Brooklyn until late 2023, more than two years after adult-use marijuana was legalized in New York State.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On this greenest of days, we\u2019re taking a quick trip down memory lane and examining the history of marijuana in Kings County.\n<\/p>\n
Crackdowns begin in the 1900s<\/p>\n
New York City first cracked down on cannabis back in 1914, adding it to the list of \u201cprohibited\u201d drugs in an addendum to the state\u2019s new Boylan Act<\/a>, which required prescriptions for \u201chabit-formimg drugs\u201d like opium, morphine and heroin.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the time, the New York Times reported<\/a> that marijuana had \u201cpractically the same effect\u201d as narcotics, though it hadn\u2019t been as popular when the more intense drugs were easier to acquire.<\/p>\n But the ban didn\u2019t stop New Yorkers from growing weed. In 1951, the city set out to eradicate weed plants from vacant lots across the five boroughs.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n In the span of a few months, DSNY workers recovered a massive 17,200 pounds of marijuana plants from Brooklyn alone, according to the Brooklyn Public Library<\/a>. They cut down massive pot plants in Greenpoint and Williamsburg and slashed \u201cfarms\u201d planted in Downtown Brooklyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n Almost 30 years later, in 1977, New York made its first step toward decriminalizing marijuana, reducing penalties for possessing small amounts of the drug. Still, any possession \u201cin public view\u201d was a misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in jail. Hundreds of thousands<\/a> of people continued to be arrested for nonviolent marijuana offenses, with Black and Latino people disproportionately targeted.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then-mayor Bill de Blasio moved to reduce arrests<\/a> further in 2014. The same year, then-Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson announced<\/a> that, in contradiction with existing city policy, his office would stop prosecuting most nonviolent, low-level marijuana offenses. Convicting defendants in those cases \u201cdoes not advance public safety with fairness and justice,\u201d Thompson said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Legalization begins slowly<\/p>\n The state rolled out its medical marijuana program in 2016, a year and a half after the Compassionate Care Act was signed. Brooklyn got its first medical dispensary, Citivia, in 2018<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2021, New York state finally voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Under the law, the first 150 licenses granted by the state would be issued to \u201cjustice-involved\u201d people who had previously been convicted for marijuana offenses.<\/p>\n But the rollout of the program was long, slow and complicated. A lawsuit<\/a> against the \u201cjustice-involved\u201d provision prevented licenses from being granted in Brooklyn even as dispensaries opened elsewhere in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Taking advantage of what they saw as a legal and logistical \u201cgray area,\u201d unlicensed dispensaries<\/a> grew bolder. Between the fall of 2022 and December 2023, state and city officials repeatedly<\/a> raided<\/a> Big Chief, an illegal dispensary in Bay Ridge, confiscating thousands of pounds of weed products and arresting two people.\u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, in December 2023, Brooklyn\u2019s first legal recreational dispensary, Grow Together, opened <\/a>in Gravesend.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dispensaries grow in Brooklyn<\/p>\n Since then, legal dispensaries have bloomed across Brooklyn. The Travel Agency became the city\u2019s first legal cannabis shop to open a second location when it launched<\/a> in Downtown Brooklyn in January 2024. The following month, then-mayor Eric Adams helped cut the ribbon <\/a>on Matawana, the borough\u2019s first Black woman-owned dispensary.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, there are almost 80 licensed dispensaries<\/a> in the borough according to the state\u2019s Office of Cannabis Management, like the father-and-son owned Verdi Cannabis<\/a> in Park Slope and All Good<\/a> in Flatbush, which focuses on locally-grown cannabis.\u00a0<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t always been smooth. Kaya Bliss faced vicious backlash<\/a> from the community as it prepared to open in Bay Ridge, despite adhering to all legal requirements. Last summer, the OCM corrected its previously agreed-upon rules related to the distance dispensaries had to be from schools, putting more than 100 shops in New York City at risk of closing<\/a>, including two dozen in Brooklyn. The owner of Matawana, Leeann Mata, is locked in a legal battle<\/a> with the nonprofit that helped launch her shop, Housing Works, which she alleges has taken advantage of her.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, for most, things have settled down. Kaya Bliss managed to open in Bay Ridge last year, and celebrated its anniversary<\/a> in February. Earlier this year, Gov. Kathy Hochul amended<\/a> the law to allow existing dispensaries to stay where they are.<\/p>\n![\"Big](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776717908_186_Screenshot-2025-02-12-180330.png\" "\\"Illicit")
The infamous Big Chief dispensary, which opened in a \u201clegal gray area\u201d before licenses were being granted in Brooklyn, was repeatedly raided before being forced to close. File photo by Jada Camille<\/p>\n![\"opening](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776717908_113_4.20MatawanaOpening-MichaelAppleton3-scaled-1.webp.jpeg\" "\\"Illicit")
Then-mayor Eric Adams celebrated the opening of Matawana in Park Slope in 2024. File photo courtesy of Michael Appleton\/Mayoral Photography Office<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776717909_386_IMG_8990.jpg\" "\\"Illicit")
Kaya Bliss opened in Bay Ridge in 2025, despite backlash from the community. File photo by Adam Daly<\/p>\n