While the state has given the green light to possessing and consuming once-banned marijuana, regulators have yet to issue licenses to applicants seeking approval to open adult-use cannabis shops.
But dozens of businesses have already begun to offer “untested” pot products to consumers despite having no authority to do so, according to state officials.
In a move aimed at putting such operations in check, the fledgling Office of Cannabis Management reported Thursday that it has issued stern warnings directing 52 stores sprinkled across the state to immediately halt sales of such products.
Failure to stop the sales could result in those businesses being permanently excluded from receiving state cannabis licenses, officials said.
The operators of those businesses, should they persist in selling mariijuana, could face significant fines and possible criminal penalties, regulators said in “cease and desist” letters to the businesses.
“Unlicensed sales undermine the legal market that is being built by introducing products that are not lab-tested and potentially threaten public safety,” warns the letters sent out by the Cannabis Management Enforcement Division.
The taboo activity includes transactions known as “gifting,” in which consumers purchase a non-cannabis item or pay for membership in a club, with a quantity of marijuana provided to them by the seller as part of the transaction, state officials said. [Read more at Niagra Gazette]
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