What were they smoking?
Dozens of legal pot shops in New York could be forced to shut down — because of a dopey mistake by state cannabis officials, The Post has learned.
The Office of Cannabis Management, in a Monday memo, bluntly admitted it miscalculated the distance between the licensed weed sellers and schools, which must be 500-feet apart under state law.
“This impacts 152 businesses: 105 licensees (about 60 are open and operating stores) and 47 pending applications,” OCM director Felicia Reid said in the memo.
Of the affected pot businesses, 88 are in New York City.
OCM measured compliance as ranging from the entrance door of a school to the entrance of a marijuana shop, misapplying the 500-foot distance requirement.
But under the law, the distance should be measured from the entrance of a pot shop to the beginning of the “property line” of a school — not its door.
The measurement previously used by cannabis regulators “does not align with cannabis law,” Reid fessed up in the memo.
OCM and Gov. Kathy Hochul will request new state legislation to amend the marijuana law to fix the mess, or else the licensed pot sellers’ businesses could go up in smoke — conceivably having to shut down or relocate.
“This legislation would permit licensees to remain at their current location,” Reid said in the memo.
Reid said her office conducted a legal review of the decisions that took place before she headed the agency, and discovered the goof.
“The legislation would essentially grandfather in affected dispensaries that were approved under prior guidance, so they’re not punished for mistakes they didn’t make,” said Joe Rossi, a cannabis consultant with Modern Advocacy.
This is a breaking story. Please check back for updates.
