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Jeffrey Hoffman is a New York City-based attorney who hosts “Ask Me Anything about Cannabis Legalization in New York” each week on LinkedIn. Hoffman and NY Cannabis Insider have partnered to bring those sessions into print in a Q&A format.
Hoffman’s practice focuses on cannabis industry clients, including licensees in the adult-use market, practitioners in the medical cannabis space, and cannabis-adjacent product and service providers.
He has a particular interest in social and economic equity cannabis license applicants, and he also informs and assists those convicted of cannabis offenses in getting such convictions expunged from their record. He can be reached at info@420jurist.com.
The following AMA from July 5 has been edited for length and clarity.
Any movement with regulators on shutting down illegal operations?
They’re raiding stores left and right and the stores that they raid are open 20 minutes later. Well maybe not that quick but pretty quick. The governor said at some point they would start putting padlocks on doors. And what’s happening now is one thing – but if you go and take a pair of bolt cutters and crack a padlock, then you’ve entered a different world. It’s like when you see places that have been wrapped in the yellow police tape and it says “police line do not cross” and you decide oh what the heck let’s see what happens when I cross it. No bueno. That’s what happens. So I guess that is the one piece of legal advice I will give – if you see that yellow police tape or a related padlock, my advice is do not cut the police tape or the padlock. Right now they’re putting up notices and warning stickers on the doors and that is the first step towards later coming back and being serious about the fines and perhaps the padlocks.
Is there any carve out for nonprofits to raise money via cannabis sales similar to casino nights?
No.
How was your 4th?
It was one of those special years where it went on forever – you had 4th of July weekend and 4th of July was on a Tuesday, which means you had the weekend and then a Monday and then a national holiday. So everybody took the Monday off and we just partied hard. The 4th was outrageous. Special thanks to Jeremey and Joe who will soon be opening their dispensary in Astoria on Ditmars – they invited me to a fireworks show out where they live and it was intense. And also a shout out to Sohan who gave me a ride and will also soon be opening his dispensary in Queens.
Can you be arrested for carrying small amounts of cannabis on airplanes?
Yes, that’s a federal offense. Airplanes and airports are the purview of the federal government via the FAA. Cannabis is still federally illegal. So 100% you can still be arrested for carrying small amounts on an airplane.