New York’s new budget agreement includes new tools aimed at shutting down unlicensed cannabis dispensaries that the state has said threaten the success of the rollout of legal ones – and threaten the amount of taxes the state will collect.
The budget agreement increases potential fines illegal shop operators face and gives the state more authority to enforce existing cannabis laws, including an added $16 million in enforcement funds and the ability to search unlicensed weed shops.
It also allows the state to seek restraining orders, mandate store closures, charge unlicensed shops with tax fraud and allow landlords to evict unlicensed dispensaries.
Illicit competition has been a problem for licensed cannabis retailers in every state that has them.
“I understand that people don’t want to be putting people in jail for for cannabis anymore. I agree with that,” said Patrick Hines, a partner at law firm Hodgson Russ and co-leader of its Hemp and Medical Cannabis Practice. “But at the same time, in order to have a viable marketplace, everybody’s got to be playing the same set of rules.”
Under the bill, fines for retail possession of cannabis without a registration certificate would increase from $500 to up to $7,500 for the first offense; penalties would increase to up…
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