Hochul takes victory lap on illegal pot crackdown — after her botched rollout opened the door

What are they smoking?

Gov. Kathy Hochul raved on Wednesday about a new crackdown on hundreds of illegal pot shops in the Empire State — but failed to mention how the boom in unlicensed weed dealers was a direct result of the New York’s failed roll out of legalized marijuana.

The city and state teamed up to close 1,009 unregulated pot outlets across the city and state — and even seize some $63 million in illegal bud, Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams crowed at a Bronx press conference Wednesday.

“I am pleased . . . to celebrate a milestone and recognize the enforcement teams who shut down more than 1,000 unlicensed stores statewide, bringing us closer to our goal of building the strongest, most equitable cannabis industry in the nation,” Hochul said in a statement.

The governor’s office said that in the 10 weeks since the recent crackdown started, sales of pot at the 87 legal stores in the state have gone up 72 percent.

Adams, meanwhile, touted his “Operation Padlock to Protect,” which has allowed cops to confiscate more than $41 million in illegal goods since May.

“In the three months since launching ‘Operation Padlock to Protect,’ our administration has delivered major results on a major quality of life and public safety issue,” Adams said.

“For too long illegal shops have contributed to a feeling that anything goes on our streets while targeting our most vulnerable — including children — with dangerous, counterfeit products marked as candy.”

The leaders failed, however, to remind New Yorkers that the city itself has estimated there are more than 2,000 illegal shops just in New York City — leaving hundreds still operating.

The boom in unlicensed shops came after Hochul signed the bill to legalize recreational marijuana in 2021, but then admittedly fumbled the ball in the timely approval of legal, licensed stores experts.

Hochul herself acknowledged in March the implementation of legal pot in New York was “a disaster,” as a blooming black market filled the void left by the low number of legal stores in the state.

The rollout was hampered in part by lawsuits over who qualified for an early license.

Among the negative consequences were farmers facing bankruptcy after investing their life savings into marijuana crops — only to find too few legal cannabis stores to sell weed to.

Merchants applying for the licenses had to wait two years to get their hands on one.

Last year, the Coalition for Access to Regulated and Safe Cannabis, a major industry group, trashed Albany’s Office of Cannabis Management, giving the agency failing grades.

At the press conference, Adam and Hochul touted how a recently passed law signed by Hochul is allowing for officials to finally get tough on illegal stores.

The legislation allowed Hochul to create Cannabis Enforcement Task Force, which gave local governments the green light to work with state agencies to shut down illegal pot shops — which was previously left largely to state agencies and left municipal law enforcement handcuffed.

The state initiative changed the rules of the game and put local cops back in the game.

But the damage was already done.

“This is solely the fault of Governor Hochul’s Office of Cannabis Management. which has let the illicit market thrive while shutting the door on vetted Social Equity applicants,” Coalition for Access to Regulated and Safe Cannabis representative Kirsten Foy said last year.

“Including minority and women business owners, veterans, and the registered organizations that have been serving the state’s medical cannabis patients for almost a decade,” she said.

Nearly 300,000 pounds of New York farmers’ cannabis sat unused and rotting as the state failed to follow through on approving dozens of licenses.