OCM fining illicit shops as CAURD licenses roll out

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- The office of Cannabis Management has approved an additional 36 Conditional Adult Use Recreational Dispensary licenses. Seven of those are from the Finger Lakes Region, where a now settled lawsuit, previously held up the licensing process. There are 13 retail dispensaries open for business statewide with an additional two opening shop on Friday. One in Syracuse, and one in the Bronx which is delivery only, but will transition to full shop. 

"What’s been exciting about watching this map expand is that we now literally have seeds of this retail market now planted right across the state from the bottom to the top of the state and this is going to continue to grow," said one member at the Cannabis Control Board meeting on Thursday.

Last month, the Governor signed legislation to allow OCM to conduct raids on illicit shops. They've since issued notices of violation and fines of up to $10,000 a day, but cannabis attorney, Jeffrey Hoffman’s said this doesn’t go far enough, "One of the new enforcement things I believe - is that they can put padlocks on doors. Folks are kind of equating this to maybe we give you a parking ticket and eventually put a boot on your tire, right? So do it!"

Hoffman said an illicit shop located near him received a violation notice, but was open for business the very next day. He also takes issue with lack of funding for businesses to find a location to sell their product - Something they were told the Dormitory Authority of the State of New Yok, would take care of. "You know if you don’t have the money - and a lot of the people that you encouraged to apply were entirely dependent on you having the money - this is what you told the applicants you remember originally, originally you were gonna have to take the DASNY space. You weren’t gonna be able to do it on your own," explained Hoffman. Approved applicants have been using a mix of personal and DASNY funds to open their businesses. OCM said the state has made a total of $23 million dollars in cannabis sales so far.