The New York Metropolis Council (the Metropolis Council) is taking matters into its own hands, passing laws that may maintain landlord’s chargeable for renting house to unlicensed hashish dispensaries. Final week, on June 22, the Metropolis Council unanimously handed the legislation (47 to 0), with one abstention.
Right here is Metropolis Council Member Lynn C. Schulman’s abstract:
“This invoice would prohibit knowingly leasing business premises to a tenant who makes use of the premises for the distribution or sale of illicit hashish or tobacco merchandise with out a license. The primary time that a bootleg hashish or unlicensed tobacco product vendor is discovered to be working in leased business premises any related metropolis company may subject a warning to the proprietor of the premises. If an unlicensed vendor is later discovered to be working in the identical business premises, the proprietor could be chargeable for civil penalties. This invoice would additionally require town to undergo the Mayor and the Council a quarterly report on enforcement regarding illicit hashish or unlicensed tobacco product sellers.”
New York Metropolis landlords might be fined $5,000 for the primary offense and $10,000 for subsequent violations. These are critical monetary penalties which might be designed to and will disincentive New York Metropolis landlords from leasing to unlicensed dispensaries.
The Metropolis Council’s efforts to crack down on illicit dispensaries follows New York State laws that was handed in Could of 2023, which licensed the Workplace of Hashish Administration (OCM) to itself police illicit hashish actions (try our breakdown right here). The OCM shortly utilized its new authority, when on June 8, 2023, the OCM issued violation notices and cease and desist orders to seven illicit dispensaries in Manhattan.
This form of enforcement is strictly what is required to propel New York’s — and New York Metropolis’s — authorized adult-use hashish trade ahead. With out it, licensed hashish firms on each the manufacturing and shopper sides of the trade will merely be unable to compete. Keep tuned as we get nearer to New York’s anticipated opening of the adult-use utility portal within the fall!