Tom Minear: New York’s dopey green light putting noses out of joint

It’s the smell no one can escape in New York, not even the world’s best tennis players. Tom Minear argues the city’s dopey green light to marijuana is putting noses out of joint.

Spend a while wandering around New York City, and you’ll notice the old cliche still rings true: there’s a Starbucks on nearly every corner. But these days, what really stands out is the two or three or four marijuana dispensaries between each coffee shop.

There’s at least 1500 citywide – compared to about 350 Starbucks – and almost all are operating illegally. Since recreational use was legalised in 2021, the city has slow-walked licensing shops while the budding underground industry has grown like, well, weeds.

It’s a bizarre failure of governance. One of the key arguments cited in favour of legalising marijuana is the revenue that can be raised from retail sales. And yet, the city is allowing illegal shops to operate in plain sight, paying no taxes as all that cash goes up in smoke.

Starbucks is now outnumbered by illegal cannabis dispensaries in New York. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Speaking of smoke: it’s everywhere. From Central Park to the subway, from outside on the streets to inside stores, you can’t escape the smell of weed.

Earlier this year, I was at a gig in Madison Square Garden when concertgoers started blazing up inside. And no, it wasn’t Queens of the Stoned Age or Green Day playing, but John Mayer – although I doubt he would have minded, having quit alcohol for marijuana.

The world’s best tennis players, on the other hand, are worried about their impact on their performance. At last year’s US Open, Australia’s asthmatic tennis star Nick Kyrgios complained to the umpire when a dopey spectator lit up a joint at centre court.

This year, the problem has flared up at court 17, which borders a public park on the outskirts of the Flushing Meadows venue.

Court 17 at the US Open has been compared to “Snoop Dogg’s living room”. Picture: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

“Court 17 definitely smells like Snoop Dogg’s living room,” German star Alexander Zverev laughed. Other players piped up too, mostly without complaint, but it prompted tennis authorities to investigate as embarrassing headlines started to spread.

While they couldn’t weed out a culprit, they concluded the smell was coming from the park rather than fans in the stands. As I write this from court 17, the whiff still in the air, their finding makes sense. But it’s nonetheless annoying for those of us who keep off the grass.

In Australia, the long-term effort to stigmatise tobacco has largely succeeded in roping off smokers from the rest of us. It’s still legal but no longer sociable in most public spaces.

In New York, the rare smell of a cigarette is now a relief. It’s almost as good as fresh air.

Originally published as Tom Minear: New York’s dopey green light putting noses out of joint