I’m Stuck store on Genesee Street in Auburn. This store and six others in Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne counties were closed for selling marijuana to underaged customers and for operating without a license, officials said on Monday, July 31, 2023. (Google)
Seven stores in Central New York that sell marijuana products have been shut down for operating without a license and selling weed to underaged customers, state officials said Monday.
The I’m Stuck stores in Oswego, Cayuga and Wayne counties will be padlocked, according to a news release by the state Attorney General’s Office. The stores are in Auburn, Lyons, Macedon, Ontario, Williamson and Pulaski.
I’m Stuck owner David Tulley ignored notices and orders from the state Office of Cannabis Management to stop selling marijuana products, the AG’s Office said in a news release
Investigators found store clerks were selling marijuana products to customers under the age of 21 multiple times, officials said.
In a statement Monday, Joseph Bondy, Tulley’s lawyer, said they believe the state violated its own cannabis law in pursuing the closures.
“We will defend against the efforts to further enjoin Mr. Tulley on a number of specific statutory and constitutional grounds, which will be made by public court filing,” Bondy said.
The AG’s Office and the OCM were given more enforcement powers over unlicensed marijuana dispensaries under a new state law. The I’m Stuck stores are the first to be closed under that new authority, the AG’s Office said.
In April, I’m Stuck stores advertised an Easter egg hunt in Onondaga, Cayuga, Monroe, Wayne and Yates counties, officials said. Collected eggs could be redeemed for prizes, including cannabis products and toys, they said.
An attorney general’s office investigator brought numerous eggs to a store in Macedon and redeemed cannabis flower and seeds, edibles and other products, officials said.
In May, and undercover investigator accompanied with an undercover under the age of 21 went to I’m Stuck’s Auburn location. The underaged undervover was shown numerous cannabis options by a clerk without showing an ID, officials said.
The clerk sold the marijuana products to the investigator and handed them to the underaged undercover, officials said.
The AG’s Office and the OCM are also seeking penalties against Tulley that could total millions in fines, the release said.
New York’s cannabis law requires stores selling marijuana products to be licensed by the state’s Cannabis Control Board. Unlicensed shops’ products aren’t lab tested by the OCM and could be unsafe, officials said.
A cease and desist letter by the OCM was mailed to Tulley for operating without a license in February 2022, officials said. But he continued and more notices of violations were sent to his stores, they said.
To the OCM, Tulley described his shops as a consulting business that informs customers of the effects of cannabis, officials said. In return, they were given cannabis products.
After another cease and desist for seven of his stores, Tulley said he would remain open, officials said. The AG’s Office then moved to permanently close the locations, they said.
In June and early July, the OCM seized more than 47 pounds of cannabis flower, 244 pounds of cannabis edibles and 89 pounds cannabis concentrate, officials said.
H/T: www.syracuse.com
