S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3479
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
January 27, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. HELMING, BORRELLO -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations
and Government Operations
AN ACT to amend the cannabis law, in relation to allowing municipalities
to regulate public places where cannabis can be consumed
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 131 of the cannabis law, subdivision 3 as added by
section 10 of the part G of chapter 55 of laws of 2024, is amended to
read as follows:
§ 131. Local opt-out; municipal control and preemption. 1. (A) The
licensure and establishment of a retail dispensary license and/or
on-site consumption license under the provisions of article four of this
chapter authorizing the retail sale of adult-use cannabis to cannabis
consumers shall not be applicable to a town, city or village which,
after the effective date of this chapter, and, on or before the later of
December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-one or nine months after the
effective date of this section, adopts a local law, subject to permis-
sive referendum governed by section twenty-four of the municipal home
rule law, requesting the cannabis control board to prohibit the estab-
lishment of such retail dispensary licenses and/or on-site consumption
licenses contained in article four of this chapter, within the jurisdic-
tion of the town, city or village. Provided, however, that any town law
shall apply to the area of the town outside of any village within such
town. No local law may be adopted after the later of December thirty-
first, two thousand twenty-one or nine months after the effective date
of this section prohibiting the establishment of retail dispensary
licenses and/or on-site consumption licenses; provided, however, that a
local law repealing such prohibition may be adopted after such date.
[2.] (B) Except as provided for in [subdivision one] PARAGRAPH (A) of
this [section] SUBDIVISION, all county, town, city and village governing
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07395-01-5
S. 3479 2
bodies are hereby preempted from adopting any law, rule, ordinance,
regulation or prohibition pertaining to the operation or licensure of
registered organizations, adult-use cannabis licenses or cannabinoid
hemp licenses. However, towns, cities and villages may pass local laws
and regulations governing the time, place and manner of the operation of
licensed adult-use cannabis retail dispensaries and/or on-site consump-
tion site, provided such law or regulation does not make the operation
of such licensed retail dispensaries or on-site consumption sites unrea-
sonably impracticable as determined by the board.
2. ANY COUNTY, TOWN, CITY OR VILLAGE MAY ADOPT A LOCAL LAW, RULE,
ORDINANCE, REGULATION OR PROHIBITION REGARDING PUBLIC PLACES WHERE
ADULT-USE CANNABIS MAY BE CONSUMED WITHIN SUCH COUNTY, TOWN, CITY OR
VILLAGE.
3. (a) As used in this subdivision and for purposes of any local law
adopted pursuant to it, the following terms shall have the following
meanings: "person" shall have the meaning provided for in subdivision
forty-a of section three of this chapter; "unlicensed activity" shall
refer only to unlawfully selling cannabis, cannabis product, or any
product marketed or labeled as such without obtaining the appropriate
registration, license, or permit therefor, or engaging in an indirect
retail sale; "indirect retail sale" shall have the meaning provided for
in subdivision forty-six-a of section three of this chapter, except that
it shall not include cannabinoid hemp or hemp extract product; "place of
business" shall not include a residence or other real property not
otherwise held out as open to the public or otherwise being utilized in
a business or commercial manner, or any vehicle associated with the
business, unless probable cause exists to believe that such residence,
real property, or vehicle, is being used in such business or commercial
manner for the unlicensed activity.
(b) Any county or city may adopt a local law authorizing an officer or
agency to conduct regulatory inspections of any place of business
located within the county or city, including a vehicle used for such
business, not listed on the directory maintained by the office pursuant
to subdivision thirteen of section eleven of this chapter. Any such
regulatory inspection shall only occur during the operating hours of a
place of business and be conducted for purposes of civil administrative
enforcement with respect to premises lacking applicable registrations,
licenses or permits issued pursuant to this chapter, and in furtherance
of its purposes, provided that nothing herein shall limit any enforce-
ment action under law when illegal activity is observed or occurs during
such inspection.
(c) A local law adopted by a county authorizing regulatory inspections
shall not apply in any city included within the boundaries of such coun-
ty that adopts a local law authorizing regulatory inspections within
such city.
(d) The local law adopted by a county or a city pursuant to this
subdivision shall also:
(i) require procedures sufficient to ensure that any regulatory
inspections are conducted in a reasonable manner, are administrative in
nature, designed to detect administrative violations, in furtherance of
the regulatory scheme established pursuant to this section, and designed
to guarantee certainty and regularity of application;
(ii) designate a local official who shall serve as the liaison to the
office and who shall: (1) be required to ensure that updates to the
directory are immediately incorporated into the local inspection proc-
ess, coordinate with the office on efforts to inspect such unlicensed
S. 3479 3
businesses and related local enforcement efforts; (2) send bi-weekly
reports to the office in a manner and format prescribed by the office
detailing recent enforcement efforts, including information regarding
the number and location of inspections conducted, notices of violation
issued, and orders to seal issued and executed, and the amount and
nature of the cannabis, cannabis products, or products marketed as such
seized; and (3) serve as the primary contact for the office in
connection with the office's training program and the sharing of materi-
als made available to counties and cities with regard to the inspection
and enforcement of unlicensed cannabis businesses;
(iii) be filed with the office, as well as any procedures or regu-
lations promulgated pursuant to the local law. Notwithstanding the
effective date of any such local law, the local law shall not become
effective until ten days after it is filed with the office;
(iv) establish a system for receiving complaints of such unlicensed
activity by any business within the county or city, as the case may be;
(v) provide that any person who engages in the unlawful sale of canna-
bis, cannabis product, or any product marketed or labeled as such, or in
indirect retail sales, shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less
than one hundred dollars and not more than ten thousand dollars for each
day during which such violation continues, with a maximum penalty of no
more than twenty-five thousand dollars. The penalty provided for in this
subparagraph may be recovered by an action or proceeding in a court of
competent jurisdiction brought by the county or city to enforce the
notice of violation referred to in clause one of subparagraph (vi) of
this paragraph; and
(vi) provide that the officer or agency designated to conduct regula-
tory inspections of any place of business not listed on the directory
maintained by the office shall have the authority to:
(1) issue a notice of violation and order to cease unlicensed activity
setting forth the nature of the unlawful conduct along with any fines or
penalties for such conduct in amounts not to exceed the fines set forth
in subparagraph (v) of this paragraph and order any person who is unlaw-
fully selling cannabis, cannabis product, or any product marketed or
labeled as such without obtaining the appropriate registration, license,
or permit therefor, or engaging in indirect retail sale, to cease such
prohibited conduct, provided that any such notice of violation and order
to cease unlicensed activity may only be issued against the business
that is conducting the unlicensed activity or an individual owner of the
business. Any notice of violation and order to cease unlicensed activity
shall be served by delivery of the order to the owner of the business or
other person of suitable age or discretion in actual or apparent control
of the premises at the time of the inspection and shall be posted at the
building or premises that have been sealed, secured and closed. A copy
of the order shall also be mailed to any address for the owner of the
business at any address provided by the person to whom such order was
delivered pursuant to this paragraph;
(2) seize any cannabis, cannabis product, or any product marketed or
labeled as such, found in the possession of a person engaged in the
conduct described in clause one of this subparagraph and in their place
of business, including a vehicle used for such business, providing that
the business that is conducting the unlicensed activity or an individual
owner of the business, maintain documentation of the chain of custody of
such seized products, and ensure that such products are properly stored,
catalogued, and safeguarded until such time as they may properly be
destroyed by the county or the city;
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(3) issue an order to seal the building or premises of any business
engaged in unlicensed activity, when such activity is conducted, main-
tained, or permitted in such building or premises, occupied as a place
of business subject to the procedures and requirements set forth in this
subparagraph:
A. The officer or agency may issue an order to seal with an immediate
effective date if such order is based upon a finding by the officer or
agency of an imminent threat to the public health, safety, and welfare.
B. Any order to seal shall be served by delivery of the order to the
owner of the business or other person of suitable age or discretion in
actual or apparent control of the premises at the time of the inspection
and shall be posted at the building or premises that have been sealed,
secured and closed. A copy of the order shall also be mailed to any
address for the owner of the business provided by the person to whom
such order was delivered pursuant to this paragraph. The order shall
remain in effect pending a hearing and final determination of a court,
or until such order is vacated by the officer or agency pursuant to the
local law adopted pursuant to this subdivision. An order to seal shall
explicitly state that a request for a hearing may be submitted in writ-
ing to the corporation counsel or to the county attorney as applicable
within seven days. Upon receiving such a request for a hearing, the
corporation counsel or county attorney shall file a copy of the request
with the clerk of the city court or county court in the city or county
where the building or premises is located.
C. The court that receives notice of a request for a hearing from a
corporation counsel or a county attorney shall fix the date of such
hearing no later than three business days from the date such notice is
received by the court and provide notice to the parties of the date,
time, and location of the hearing. Upon such date, or upon such other
date to which the proceeding may be adjourned by agreement of the
parties, the court shall hear testimony and receive evidence presented
by the parties. The city or county, as applicable, and the person that
requested the hearing shall be parties to the proceeding. Within four
business days of the conclusion of the hearing, the court shall make a
determination as to: (i) whether the person upon which the order to seal
was issued was engaged in unlicensed activity, (ii) if the person is
found to have engaged in unlicensed activity, then whether such unli-
censed activity presents an imminent threat to public health, safety and
welfare according to subdivision four of section one hundred thirty-
eight-b of this article, and (iii) whether the unlicensed activity as
described in this section is more than a de minimis part of the business
activity on the premises or in the building to be sealed pursuant to the
order. However, when an order to seal has been issued upon a second or
subsequent inspection in which unlicensed activity is confirmed to be
continuing more than ten calendar days after a notice of violation and
order to cease unlicensed activity was previously issued, the court need
only determine: (i) whether the person upon which the order to seal was
issued was engaged in unlicensed activity; (ii) whether a notice of
violation and order to cease unlicensed activity had been issued eleven
or more days prior to the issuance of the order to seal; and (iii)
whether the order to seal was issued in compliance with paragraph (a) of
subdivision six of section one hundred thirty-eight-b of this article.
If the court determines that an order to seal was not properly issued,
the court shall vacate such order. If the court is satisfied that an
order to seal was properly issued, the court may render a judgment
affirming the issuance of an order to seal, and direct the closing of
S. 3479 5
the building or premises by any police officer or peace officer with
jurisdiction to the extent necessary to abate the unlicensed activity
and shall direct any police officer or peace officer with jurisdiction
to post a copy of the judgment and a printed notice of such closing
conforming to the requirements of this chapter. The closing directed by
the judgment shall be for such period as the court may direct but in no
event shall the closing be for a period of more than one year from the
posting of the judgment provided for in this section. Failure of a
party that requested a hearing to appear at the hearing will result in a
default and order of sealing to remain in effect for such period as the
court may direct but in no event shall the order be in effect for a
period of more than one year from the posting of the judgment unless
otherwise vacated pursuant to the local law adopted pursuant to this
subdivision.
D. The local law adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall include,
without alteration the provisions of subdivisions four through twelve of
section one hundred thirty-eight-b of this article. Any provisions
adopted by a local law to the contrary shall be considered specifically
preempted by this paragraph, provided however that a county or city
shall be permitted to substitute the officer or agency authorized by the
county or city to conduct regulatory inspections pursuant to this
subsection for any reference to the office or board;
(4) seek injunctive relief against any person engaging in conduct in
violation of this section, including through an action pursuant to
section sixteen-a of this chapter.
(e) Upon a demand by the county or city, a respondent or defendant
shall provide to the county or city prior to a hearing pursuant to
subparagraph (v) of paragraph (d) of this subdivision or an order to
seal pursuant to clause three of subparagraph (vi) of paragraph (d) of
this subdivision, within five days after a demand or sooner if a hearing
is scheduled less than five days from the date of demand, a verified
statement setting forth:
(i) If the responding party is a natural person, such party's: (1)
full legal name; (2) date of birth; (3) current home or business street
address; and (4) a unique identifying number from: (A) an unexpired
passport; (B) an unexpired state driver's license; or (C) an unexpired
identification card or document issued by a state or local government
agency or tribal authority for the purpose of identification of that
individual;
(ii) If the responding party is a partnership, limited liability part-
nership, limited liability company, or other unincorporated association,
including a for profit or not-for-profit membership organization or
club, the information required pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this
paragraph for all of its partners or members, as well as the state or
other jurisdiction of its formation;
(iii) If the responding party is a corporation, its state or other
jurisdiction of incorporation, principal place of business, and any
state or other jurisdiction of which that party is a citizen;
(iv) If the responding party is not an individual, in addition to any
information provided pursuant to subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of this
paragraph, and to the extent not previously provided, each beneficial
owner of the responding party by: (A) full legal name; (B) date of
birth; (C) current home or business street address; and (D) a unique
identifying number from: (1) an unexpired passport; (2) an unexpired
state driver's license; or (3) an unexpired identification card or docu-
ment issued by a state or local government agency or tribal authority
S. 3479 6
for the purpose of identification of that individual. As used in this
section, the term "beneficial owner" shall have the same meaning as
defined in 31 U.S.C. § 5336(a)(3), as amended, and any regulations
promulgated thereunder.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in this section, a
city with a population of more than one million may enforce any
violations, orders to cease, and orders to seal related to unlicensed
activity through an administrative hearing process.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
