Assemblywoman Rajkumar drums up support for passage of SMOKEOUT Act

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On Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar who represents Queens, NY, held a rally outside City Hall, with a coalition of groups, calling for passage of her SMOKEOUT Act (A8428A/S7998A), which grants municipalities across the State, including New York City, the authority to immediately shutter all illegal, unlicensed smoke shops once and for all. The rally called upon Albany to include the full SMOKEOUT Act in the State’s enacted budget, a press release from her office said.

Government, business, and nonprofit leaders from all Five Boroughs, including immigrants hailing from around the world, ranging from the Dominican Republic to Bangladesh, participated in the rally.

“We are here to say what’s on every New Yorker’s mind. We are here to say what every New Yorker wants, which is shut down these illegal cannabis shops. We need to shut them down once and for all!” Rajkumar said in her speech, questioning how there are “1000 times more illegal smoke shops than legal ones?”

Those gathered chanted slogans of “Shut them down!” and “Smoke ‘em out!”

Rajkumar also said she is working closely with Albany leadership including the Governor to include the SMOKEOUT language in the State Budget due April 1st. Mayor Eric Adams has said when the SMOKEOUT Act passes, he will be able to close all illegal smoke shops in New York City within 30 days, she noted.

Several other elected officials, heads of various organizations and business owners also spoke at the rally and expressed their support for the legislation.

Mazeda Uddin, founder and CEO of the South Asian Fund for Education, Scholarship and Training discussed the overwhelming support for the SMOKEOUT Act in the South Asian immigrant community. She personally amassed over 500 signatures in support of the act, the press release said.