NY clamps down on businesses offering marijuana as a 'gift'
While New York works on launching a legal market for recreational marijuana, some entrepreneurs have jumped into a legal gray area by saying they’re not selling pot but are giving it away while people buy something else
Now, the state is saying they have jumped the gun and need to stop.
The Office of Cannabis Management said Tuesday it sent letters to more than two dozen enterprises it suspects of illegally selling weed, telling them to stop or face fines, potential criminal charges and risk to their prospects of getting a license once they are available.
“New York state is building a legal, regulated cannabis market that will ensure products are tested and safe for consumers” and will provide opportunities for people affected by the enforcement of now-scrapped marijuana laws, OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander said in a statement. “Illegal operations undermine our ability to do that.”
The agency wouldn't say what entities got letters. Messages were left with several businesses that have gone public about providing weed in what they have maintained is a legal way.
Hempsol CBD didn't get a letter, owner Jim Mackenzie said Wednesday, but his Rochester CBD shop nonetheless will stop offering a “gift” of marijuana to customers who buy a T-shirt or other garment.
Mackenzie said he believed the deal was legal. The state law that legalized recreational marijuana last spring doesn't discuss such “gifts” but does allow “transferring, without compensation” of small amounts of pot.
“But I'm going to do what the state wants because my goal is to have a state (marijuana) license,” said Mackenzie, who feels the state would be wiser to get to know businesses like his shop, where he prides himself on educating customers about the cannabis plant.
“It’s really in their best interest to work with the people who are actually trying to do it correctly and actually have knowledge in this industry,” he said.
This “gray area” has been how the D.C. cannabis business is currently running. Because D.C. isn’t a state it is controlled by federal law so dispensaries aren’t allowed. Special events like certain tours sometime involve a “gift” of weed from the organizers.
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@monkeydo it was getting crazy up here bro there were doing stuff like sign up for a new cellphone plan get a free blunt. At the state fair this year there were selling hot tubs if ya purchased the warranty package you got a free bag of weed, And let me tell ya That bud was some of the worst I’ve ever seen. I can already see the writing on the wall here when they start selling legal recreational weed it’s gana be substandard garbage.
Some Folks trust to reason. Others trust to might.
- Robert Hunter
Damn, a bag of weed for buying a hot tub… what’s the freebie on a new car.. a small bale lol. You know how it works though, they said free weed, they didn’t say good weed anywhere in the offer.
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