This is just a glimpse. Want to receive every issue of Cannabis Wire Daily, our newsletter that is sent to subscribers each weekday morning, and unlimited access to cannabiswire.com?
NYC DOHMH rejects request for “declaration of a public health emergency” on unlicensed shops.
It is “not at this time justified,” the city’s Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a letter to Council member Gale Brewer, obtained by Cannabis Wire.
Brewer asked the Department in August to consider a public health emergency, as Cannabis Wire reported at the time. The New York City Health Code gives DOHMH “unique executive authority” to “assure the maintenance of public health, the prevention of disease, or the safety of the City and its residents,” Brewer wrote in a letter to the Department.
Brewer and colleagues in the Council have grown increasingly frustrated with a proliferation of unlicensed cannabis shops, and a seemingly endless game of hot potato of responsibility between city and state agencies. “Multiple provisions of the code allow DOHMH to shutter unlicensed cannabis stores with relative ease,” Brewer wrote, giving the example that any unlicensed shops that sell edibles meet the city’s definition of a “Food Service Establishment,” and therefore can be padlocked.
The Department full-throatedly disagreed in a letter dated Nov. 14.
“With respect to your suggestion that the Health Commissioner declare a public health emergency, a declaration of a public health emergency is not at this time justified as ‘necessary to protect the public health against an imminent or existing threat'” under city code, Maura Kennelly, Deputy Commissioner, wrote.
“The standard for declaration of a public health emergency under the Health Code is not currently supported by our data on cannabis-related emergency department visits and poison center calls, or other information, and in light of the State’s regulation of licensed cannabis sales, and that there are other existing law enforcement authorities with jurisdiction to take action against the unlicensed sale of cannabis,” Kennelly continued.
Some broader context: New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda, who has provided many of the cannabis-related civil enforcement updates for the city, has conveyed that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has substantial power on enforcement.
During an August update about enforcement, Miranda said that the Sheriff’s Office had the “opportunity to join forces with the Department of Health, who went out to do inspections on locations that were baking with cannabis and other products. And when we went out with them, they clearly had more significant authority about closing down some of the locations.”
Miranda added, “The Department of Health had a significant amount of inspection authority to go into these locations. We accompanied them about doing additional enforcement, looking for additional products that may have been sold in these locations as well. We were able to secure locations that did result in two arrests at two different locations, and the seizure of all the baked goods.”
In this new letter, the Department notes that, given New York’s law and regulations, the Department “does not believe it is appropriate to conduct the enforcement” that Brewer suggested.
“Importantly, the typical ‘cannabis shop’ is not a food service establishment,” regulated under Health Code, meaning food “generally is not prepared and offered for service at the site of the business.”
“Accordingly, the products being sold in these shops are not generally regulated by the food establishment provisions” of the Health Code. And, more broadly, “given that the sale of so- called ‘edibles’ is generally a component of a larger cannabis business, enforcement efforts in this area are more appropriately coordinated and implemented through other City and State agencies with broader licensing or police power jurisdiction over ‘smoke shops’ and their products,” Kennelly’s letter continued.
More on enforcement below…
How’s state-level enforcement going in New York? Slow.
Only two illegal cannabis retailers have been subject to court-ordered padlocking since new enforcement legislation went into effect in May, according to an update provided by the Office of Cannabis Management on Monday.
For context, there’s still no real clear idea on how many unlicensed shops there are in New York State, except that it’s well over 1,000.
The update is the second in a new monthly series, and while inspections are slowly ticking upwards, actual closures remain rare.
Here is a breakdown:
• October inspections: 47 shops, 21 reinspections
• November inspections: 71 shops, 13 reinspections
• October cannabis seized: “730 pounds of flower, 622 pounds of edibles, 45 pounds of concentrate with an estimated value of $6,209,043”
• November cannabis seized: “812 pounds of flower, 701 pounds of edibles, and 61 pounds of concentrate, with an estimated value of $7,284,986”
• Total inspections as of October: 289
• Total inspections as of November: 350
• “Yield” to-date: “over 11,000 pounds of seized illicit cannabis worth more than $54 million”
OCM pointed to its “victory” in court last month for its “first petition for emergency relief,” which was against David Tulley of “I’m Stuck,” noting that it “established an important precedent allowing the State to seek longer term closures for businesses found to be illegally selling cannabis.” Specifically, the court “rejected Tulley’s argument that the ‘cannabis consulting business model’ did not require a license.”
Last week, OCM got a “padlocking order” against Jaydega 7.0, owned by George West, and a hearing is forthcoming.
While the enforcement bill signed in May allowed for these actions from OCM in court, the number of padlocked shops is … low.
“As we look ahead to this next chapter in New York’s cannabis market, we continue to prioritize safety across the state by working diligently to shut down illegal operators,” said OCM executive director Chris Alexander in the update.
Research of vaping videos finds purchasing links, inadequate age restrictions, and more.
Yale researchers conducted an analysis of 59 videos to better understand the “use, modification, and marketing” of electronic nicotine delivery systems to vape cannabis.
The searches were conducted in July 2022. Results showed a wild west of info and purchasing avenues.
“This qualitative study of online videos found high frequencies of statements about health benefits from vaping cannabis, frequent purchasing links, and inadequate age restrictions,” researchers concluded. “Exposure to such content on social media platforms may increase risk of cannabis vaping among youth. Use of the same devices for multiple substances may also enable dual use and complicate the US Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of [electronic nicotine delivery systems].”
This research was published in JAMA Network Open.
