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Cannabis Wire recently came across a notice from the Office of Cannabis Management with the headline “Important Reminder Regarding Cannabis Events.” It was the first such notice that we’ve seen.
While lawmakers passed a cannabis events bill this legislative session, Gov. Kathy Hochul has yet to sign the bill, and regulators have yet to release rules for cannabis events. Nevertheless, cannabis events are easy to find, from rooftops to established restaurants.
The “temporary Cannabis Growers Showcase initiative” ended on December 31, the notice read, referencing a program that allowed licensed growers and retailers to partner on pop-up sales across the state.
“The Office not not endorse cannabis events. At this time, we do not issue permits for events,” it continued (emphasis theirs).
“Additionally, the sale of tickets or a membership fee, whether by the licensee, applicant, or another third party, which results in any exchange of cannabis by either tasting, give-a-way, prize, trade, or otherwise is an indirect sale” as written in the law.
Applicants or licensees engaging in this activity, which “includes consuming, delivering, selling, or showcasing cannabis products in conjunction with a sale or an indirect sale or otherwise, in any unpermitted cannabis events, may be subject to application denial, penalties and fines, and effect your good standing,” the notice continued (again, emphasis theirs).
But for now, the warning has few, if any, teeth.
Cannabis Wire reached out to the Office of Cannabis Management to ask how many unlicensed event organizers or partners had received enforcement citations.
“As of now illicit shops are the focus and no unlicensed events have received an enforcement notice,” OCM spokesperson Taylor Randi Lee told Cannabis Wire.
On that note: How’s enforcement against unlicensed sales going in NYC? It’s tough to tell.
In May, New York City Councilmember Gale Brewer wrote to New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda to ask a series of questions about his and Mayor Eric Adams’ enforcement plans after the passage of a new law granting them expanded enforcement powers.
The dozen or so requests included, for example, for Miranda to provide the “bi-weekly report mandated by New York City Administrative Code§ 7-552(d)(1)” which should also be provided “concurrently” to the Office of Cannabis Management. Brewer also asked “what level of enforcement (in terms of number of shops not yet closed) your Office expects to achieve each month from May to December 2024.”
Miranda’s letter in response, sent earlier this month, was, in a word, lacking.
“We do not currently have an estimate to share regarding the expected level of enforcement from May to December,” he wrote, because “this period of enforcement is highly dynamic.” (The city’s last provided estimate, which Brewer noted in her letter, was 2,800.)
As for the bi-weekly reports, he wrote that “the city has not yet received a template from the Office of Cannabis Management to begin submitting bi-weekly reports.”
Cannabis Wire obtained Brewer’s letter, which you can read here, and Miranda’s response, which you can read here.
+ More: this transparency tug-of-war between Adams’ administration and the City Council when it comes to how Adams is combating unlicensed sales has been going on for months.
In late 2023, Cannabis Wire obtained correspondence between the two sides that revealed significant frustration among City Council members around the slow and vague responses they were getting from Adams on their enforcement-related inquiries. In case you missed it, you can catch up on that story here.
