S 6611: Prohibits persons under the age of twenty-one years from possessing or using cannabis except for patients certified pursuant to article three of the cannabis law; provides for the seizure of such cannabis from a person under age twenty-one and the imposition of civil penalties, community service, or both for violations.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6611 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 18, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- 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 prohibiting the possession and use of cannabis by persons under the age of twenty-one The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding two new sections 222.11 2 and 222.26 to read as follows: 3 § 222.11 Restrictions on cannabis use; persons under age twenty-one. 4 No person under the age of twenty-one years shall smoke, vape, ingest, 5 consume or otherwise use cannabis or concentrated cannabis; provided, 6 however, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any 7 person who is a certified patient pursuant to article three of the 8 cannabis law. 9 Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, violations of this 10 section by persons under the age of twenty-one years shall be subject to 11 a civil penalty not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars, or an amount of 12 community service not exceeding thirty hours, or both such civil penalty 13 and community service as provided in sections one hundred thirty-two and 14 one hundred thirty-two-a of the cannabis law. 15 § 222.26 Unlawful possession of cannabis; persons under age twenty-one. 16 1. A person is guilty of unlawful possession of cannabis when, being 17 under the age of twenty-one years, such person knowingly possesses one 18 or more preparations, compounds, mixtures or substances containing 19 cannabis and such person is not a certified patient pursuant to article 20 three of the cannabis law. 21 2. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, violations of this 22 section shall be subject to a civil penalty not exceeding two hundred 23 fifty dollars, or an amount of community service not exceeding thirty 24 hours, or both such civil penalty and community service as provided in EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09864-01-5 
 S. 6611 2 1 sections one hundred thirty-two and one hundred thirty-two-a of the 2 cannabis law. 3 § 2. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 132 4 of the cannabis law is amended and a new paragraph (d) is added to read 5 as follows: 6 (i) The person shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than 7 two hundred fifty dollars, or an amount of community service not to 8 exceed thirty hours, or both such civil penalty and community service, 9 as provided in section one hundred thirty-two-a of this article. The 10 civil penalty shall be payable to the office of cannabis management. 11 (d) The issuance of a summons by a court having jurisdiction of such 12 violation as provided in section one hundred thirty-two-a of this arti- 13 cle. 14 § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 132 of the cannabis law is amended to 15 read as follows: 16 5. Cannabis recovered from individuals who are found to be in 17 violation of this chapter may after notice and opportunity for a hearing 18 be considered a nuisance and shall be disposed of or destroyed; 19 provided, however, that cannabis recovered from individuals who are 20 found to be in violation of subdivision four of this section, or section 21 222.11 or 222.26 of the penal law shall be declared a nuisance and shall 22 be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred 23 thirty-two-a of this article. 24 § 4. The cannabis law is amended by adding a new section 132-a to read 25 as follows: 26 § 132-a. Penalties for violation of this chapter; persons under age 27 twenty-one. 1. (a) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this arti- 28 cle or any other law, any person under the age of twenty-one found to be 29 in violation of subdivision four of section one hundred thirty-two of 30 this article or section 222.11 or 222.26 of the penal law may be 31 summoned before and examined by a court having jurisdiction of such 32 charge; provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall author- 33 ize, or be construed to authorize, a peace officer as defined in section 34 2.10 of the criminal procedure law or a police officer as defined in 35 subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of such law to arrest a person 36 who unlawfully possesses cannabis or cannabis products. 37 (b) Upon a determination sustaining any charge described in paragraph 38 (a) of this subdivision, the court may impose a civil penalty not 39 exceeding two hundred fifty dollars or an appropriate amount of communi- 40 ty service not to exceed thirty hours or both such civil penalty and 41 community service; provided, however, that no such determination shall 42 qualify as a criminal accusation, admission of guilt, or a criminal 43 conviction and shall in no way operate as a disqualification of any such 44 person from holding public office, attaining public employment, or as a 45 forfeiture of any right or privilege. 46 2. Whenever a peace officer as defined in section 2.10 of the criminal 47 procedure law or police officer as defined in subdivision thirty-four of 48 section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law shall observe a person under 49 twenty-one years of age openly in possession of cannabis, in violation 50 of section one hundred thirty-two of this article or section 222.11 or 51 222.26 of the penal law, such officer may seize such cannabis, and shall 52 deliver it to the custody of such officer's department. 53 3. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of section one hundred thir- 54 ty-two of this article or any other provision of law, cannabis seized 55 pursuant to this section is hereby declared a nuisance. The official to 56 whom the cannabis has been delivered shall, no earlier than three days 
 S. 6611 3 1 following the return date for initial appearance on the summons, dispose 2 of or destroy the cannabis seized or cause it to be disposed of or 3 destroyed. Any person claiming ownership of cannabis seized under this 4 section may, on the initial return date of the summons or earlier on 5 five days' notice to the official or department in possession of the 6 cannabis, apply to the court for an order preventing the destruction or 7 disposal of the cannabis seized and ordering the return of such canna- 8 bis. The court may order the cannabis returned if it is determined that 9 return of the cannabis would be in the interest of justice or that the 10 cannabis was improperly seized. 11 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.