In this analysis of New York’s booming illicit cannabis market, Scott Mazza of Vitality CBD weighs in on how unchecked gray-market storefronts and “gifting” schemes are disrupting the transition to a regulated adult-use system. Drawing from conditions observed upstate in Buffalo, Mazza highlights the enforcement gap facing legitimate operators and explains why the persistence of illegal sales threatens consumer trust and the viability of compliant cannabis businesses entering the legal market.