Steep Fines For Illicit Weed Shops In NY Under Gov. Hochul's New Bill, Sen. Cooney Takes The Lead

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a measure on Wednesday proposing penalties for the unlicensed and illicit sale of cannabis across New York State.

The new legislation allows the Office of Cannabis Management to issue civil penalties against unlicensed cannabis businesses with fines as high as $20,000 per day and unlicensed cannabis sales deemed a crime.

Under the bill, OCM would be allowed to seize products and seek injunctions to close illicit stores. The Department of Taxation and Finance would make sure to issue fines for unpaid taxes.

"Unlicensed dispensaries violate our laws, put public health at risk, and undermine the legal cannabis market," Gov. Hochul said in a press release. "With these enforcement tools, we're paving the way for safer products, reinvestment in communities that endured years of disproportionate enforcement, and greater opportunities for New Yorkers."

Top Priorities For NY Cannabis

Meanwhile, the state Senate recently formed a special marijuana committee for designed to "provide an outlet for entrepreneurs, advocates, industry and citizens with interest in the new marketplace."

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) appointed Sen. Jeremy Cooney to chair the subcommittee.

"We recognized that as we stand up the legal market, there's going to be more cannabis legislation," Cooney told NY Cannabis Insider’s Brad Racino in a recent interview.

He highlighted that it would be "a small group" of lawmakers of under 10 members.

"The idea would be to have it be a productive group where we're not just meeting for meeting's sake, we're going to be reviewing legislation that comes out – not only for the remaining six weeks of this legislative session but also for the next," he continued.

To that end, Cooney said that his top priorities are transparency, timetables and equity.

Photo: Courtesy of King of Hearts by Wikimedia Commons and Peter Pike by Pixabay