S 1488: Includes certain acts and subsequent penalties in the criminal sale of cannabis.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1488 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. O'MARA, BORRELLO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law and the cannabis law, in relation to including certain acts and subsequent penalties in the criminal sale of cannabis The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 222.50 of the penal law, as added by chapter 92 of 2 the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 222.50 Criminal sale of cannabis in the third degree. 4 A person is guilty of criminal sale of cannabis in the third degree 5 when: 6 1. [he or she] such person knowingly and unlawfully sells more than 7 three ounces of cannabis or more than twenty-four grams of concentrated 8 cannabis; or 9 2. being twenty-one years of age or older, [he or she] such person 10 knowingly and unlawfully sells or gives, or causes to be given or sold, 11 cannabis or concentrated cannabis to a person less than twenty-one years 12 of age; except that in any prosecution under this subdivision, it is a 13 defense that the defendant was less than three years older than the 14 person under the age of twenty-one at the time of the offense. This 15 subdivision shall not apply to designated caregivers, practitioners, 16 employees of a registered organization or employees of a designated 17 caregiver facility acting in compliance with article three of the canna- 18 bis law[.]; or 19 3. any person, while employed or operating a commercial establishment, 20 store, club, or facility, who knowingly and unlawfully sells, transfers, 21 gifts or trades cannabis without an appropriate license or authority 22 under the cannabis law. Any person convicted under this subdivision 23 shall act to preclude such person from seeking, qualifying or receiving EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01895-01-5 
 S. 1488 2 1 any permit, license or authority to perform any activities under the 2 cannabis law. 3 Criminal sale of cannabis in the third degree is a class A misdemea- 4 nor. 5 § 2. Section 222.55 of the penal law, as added by chapter 92 of the 6 laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 7 § 222.55 Criminal sale of cannabis in the second degree. 8 A person is guilty of criminal sale of cannabis in the second degree 9 when: 10 1. [he or she] such person knowingly and unlawfully sells more than 11 sixteen ounces of cannabis or more than five ounces of concentrated 12 cannabis; or 13 2. being twenty-one years of age or older, [he or she] such person 14 knowingly and unlawfully sells or gives, or causes to be given or sold, 15 more than three ounces of cannabis or more than twenty-four grams of 16 concentrated cannabis to a person less than eighteen years of age. This 17 subdivision shall not apply to designated caregivers, practitioners, 18 employees of a registered organization or employees of a designated 19 caregiver facility acting in compliance with article three of the canna- 20 bis law[.]; or 21 3. any person, while employed or operating a commercial establishment, 22 store, club, or facility, who knowingly and unlawfully sells, transfers, 23 gifts or trades cannabis without an appropriate license or authority 24 under the cannabis law. Any person convicted under this subdivision 25 shall act to preclude such person from seeking, qualifying or receiving 26 any permit, license or authority to perform any activities under the 27 cannabis law. 28 Criminal sale of cannabis in the second degree is a class E felony. 29 § 3. Section 222.60 of the penal law, as added by chapter 92 of the 30 laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 31 § 222.60 Criminal sale of cannabis in the first degree. 32 A person is guilty of criminal sale of cannabis in the first degree 33 when [he or she]: 34 1. such person knowingly and unlawfully sells more than five pounds of 35 cannabis or more than two pounds of concentrated cannabis; or 36 2. any person, while employed or operating a commercial establishment, 37 store, club, or facility, who knowingly and unlawfully sells, transfers, 38 gifts or trades cannabis without an appropriate license or authority 39 under the cannabis law. Any person convicted under this subdivision 40 shall act to preclude such person from seeking, qualifying or receiving 41 any permit, license or authority to perform any activities under the 42 cannabis law. 43 Criminal sale of cannabis in the first degree is a class D felony. 44 § 4. Section 132 of the cannabis law is amended by adding a new subdi- 45 vision 1-b to read as follows: 46 1-b. Any commercial establishment, store, club, or facility, that 47 knowingly and unlawfully sells, transfers, gifts or trades any amount of 48 cannabis without an appropriate license or authority under this chapter 49 shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand 50 dollars for a first violation; not more than twenty-five thousand 51 dollars for a second violation; and not more than fifty thousand dollars 52 for a third violation and each subsequent violation thereafter. The 53 civil penalty shall be payable to the office of cannabis management, who 54 shall be required to remit such payments to the county in which the 55 violating establishment is located. 56 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.