Brooklyn Weed Sector Takes Hit: State Rolls Up With Cease And Desists

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's burgeoning — but still legally hazy — marijuana sector took a hit this week after 17 storefronts and trucks got slapped with cease and desist letters, including seven in Brooklyn.

All told, the state's new Office of Cannabis Management accused 52 businesses of selling cannabis without a license in violation of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act — the state law passed in 2021 that legalized marijuana possession, but deemed sales illegal until regulatory systems are in place (they still are not).

Seven Brooklyn businesses received letters, records show, including several smoke shops in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, plus businesses registered in Sunset Park and Carroll Gardens.

"There are no businesses currently licensed to sell adult-use cannabis in New York State," said Tremaine Wright, chair of New York's Cannabis Control Board, in a statement.

The state's new marijuana regulators said the businesses that received cease and desist letters aren't only operating illegally, they are also putting their ability to obtain a future legal cannabis sale license at "substantial risk" and posting a threat to public safety.

"Unlicensed sales undermine the legal market that is being built by introducing products that are not lab-tested and potentially threaten public health and safety," reads the letters.

The charges outlined in the letters also apply to businesses where marijuana itself isn't explicitly sold, according to the Office of Cannabis Management — like, businesses charging a membership fee for marijuana clubs or gifting marijuana in exchange for the purchase of another legal good.

"Selling any item or taking a donation, and then “gifting” a customer a bag of untested cannabis does indeed count as a sale under New York’s Cannabis Law," Wright said.

An attorney representing Empire Cannabis Club, a prominent NYC cannabis membership club that was sent a cease and desist letter, though, told Gothamist that he believes his client's business model is legal under the state's marijuana laws — a case he said he's willing to make in court.

Other businesses named in the letters also refuted the cease and desist claims.

Weed World, told Gothamist that their business doesn't necessarily sell cannabis and didn't formally receive a letter — the latter being a claim that several other storefronts told New York Cannabis Insider, a cannabis-focused publication.

Chris Alexander, the Office of Cannabis Management's executive director, though, maintains that the businesses that received letters are violating cannabis laws as well as state tax and municipal laws.

"I look forward to working with other regulatory bodies across the state to hold these stores accountable for their flagrant violations of the law," he said.

The cease and desist letters can be read here and here. Find a full list of the businesses targeted here.

Patch Editor Matt Troutman contributed to this report.