§ 137. Persons forbidden to traffic cannabis; certain officials not to
be interested in manufacture or sale of cannabis products. 1. The
following are forbidden to traffic in cannabis except in extraordinary
circumstances as determined by the board:

(a) An individual who has been convicted of an offense related to the
functions or duties of owning and operating a business within three
years of the application date, except that if the board determines that
the owner or licensee is otherwise suitable to be issued a license, and
the board determines granting the license is not inconsistent with
public safety, the board shall conduct a thorough review of the nature
of the crime, conviction, circumstances and evidence of rehabilitation
of the owner in accordance with article twenty-three-A of the correction
law, and shall evaluate the suitability of the owner or licensee to be
issued a license based on the evidence found through the review. In
determining which offenses are substantially related to the functions or
duties of owning and operating a business, the board shall include, but
not be limited to, the following:

(i) a felony conviction within the past five years involving fraud,
money laundering, forgery or other unlawful conduct related to owning
and operating a business; and

(ii) a felony conviction within the past five years for hiring,
employing, or using a minor in transporting, carrying, selling, giving
away, preparing for sale, or peddling, any controlled substance to a
minor; or selling, offering to sell, furnishing, offering to furnish,
administering, or giving any controlled substance to a minor.

(b) A person under the age of twenty-one years;

(c) A partnership or a corporation, unless each member of the
partnership, or each of the principal officers and directors of the
corporation, is a citizen of the United States or a person lawfully
admitted for permanent residence in the United States, not less than
twenty-one years of age; provided however that a corporation which
otherwise conforms to the requirements of this section and chapter may
be licensed if each of its principal officers and more than one-half of
its directors are citizens of the United States or persons lawfully
admitted for permanent residence in the United States; and provided
further that a corporation organized under the not-for-profit
corporation law or the education law which otherwise conforms to the
requirements of this section and chapter may be licensed if each of its
principal officers and directors are not less than twenty-one years of
age; and provided, further, that a corporation organized under the
not-for-profit corporation law or the education law and located on the
premises of a college as defined by section two of the education law
which otherwise conforms to the requirements of this section and chapter
may be licensed if each of its principal officers and each of its
directors are not less than twenty-one years of age;

(d) A person who shall have had any registration or license issued
under this chapter revoked for cause, until the expiration of one year
from the date of such revocation;

(d-1) A person who has been found to have engaged in unlicensed,
unregistered, or unpermitted conduct under this chapter, until three
years after such finding;

(e) A person not registered or licensed under the provisions of this
chapter, who has been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in violation
of this chapter, until the expiration of one year from the date of such
conviction; or

(f) A corporation or partnership, if any officer and director or any
partner, while not licensed under the provisions of this chapter, has
been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in violation of this chapter,
or has had a registration or license issued under this chapter revoked
for cause, until the expiration of up to one year from the date of such
conviction or revocation as determined by the board.

2. Except as may otherwise be provided for in regulation, it shall be
unlawful for any chief of police, police officer or subordinate of any
police department in the state, to be either directly or indirectly
interested in the cultivation, processing, distribution, or sale of
cannabis products or to offer for sale, or recommend to any registered
organization or licensee any cannabis products. A person may not be
denied any registration or license granted under the provisions of this
chapter solely on the grounds of being the spouse or domestic partner of
a public servant described in this section. The solicitation or
recommendation made to any registered organization or licensee, to
purchase any cannabis products by any police official or subordinate as
hereinabove described, shall be presumptive evidence of the interest of
such official or subordinate in the cultivation, processing,
distribution, or sale of cannabis products.

3. No elected village officer shall be subject to the limitations set
forth in subdivision two of this section unless such elected village
officer shall be assigned duties directly relating to the operation or
management of the police department.