N.Y. Cannabis Law § 137: Persons forbidden to traffic cannabis; certain officials not to be interested in manufacture or sale of cannabis products

§ 137. Persons forbidden to traffic cannabis; certain officials not to

be interested in manufacture or sale of cannabis products. 1. The

following are forbidden to traffic in cannabis except in extraordinary

circumstances as determined by the board:

(a) An individual who has been convicted of an offense related to the

functions or duties of owning and operating a business within three

years of the application date, except that if the board determines that

the owner or licensee is otherwise suitable to be issued a license, and

the board determines granting the license is not inconsistent with

public safety, the board shall conduct a thorough review of the nature

of the crime, conviction, circumstances and evidence of rehabilitation

of the owner in accordance with article twenty-three-A of the correction

law, and shall evaluate the suitability of the owner or licensee to be

issued a license based on the evidence found through the review. In

determining which offenses are substantially related to the functions or

duties of owning and operating a business, the board shall include, but

not be limited to, the following:

(i) a felony conviction within the past five years involving fraud,

money laundering, forgery or other unlawful conduct related to owning

and operating a business; and

(ii) a felony conviction within the past five years for hiring,

employing, or using a minor in transporting, carrying, selling, giving

away, preparing for sale, or peddling, any controlled substance to a

minor; or selling, offering to sell, furnishing, offering to furnish,

administering, or giving any controlled substance to a minor.

(b) A person under the age of twenty-one years;

(c) A partnership or a corporation, unless each member of the

partnership, or each of the principal officers and directors of the

corporation, is a citizen of the United States or a person lawfully

admitted for permanent residence in the United States, not less than

twenty-one years of age; provided however that a corporation which

otherwise conforms to the requirements of this section and chapter may

be licensed if each of its principal officers and more than one-half of

its directors are citizens of the United States or persons lawfully

admitted for permanent residence in the United States; and provided

further that a corporation organized under the not-for-profit

corporation law or the education law which otherwise conforms to the

requirements of this section and chapter may be licensed if each of its

principal officers and directors are not less than twenty-one years of

age; and provided, further, that a corporation organized under the

not-for-profit corporation law or the education law and located on the

premises of a college as defined by section two of the education law

which otherwise conforms to the requirements of this section and chapter

may be licensed if each of its principal officers and each of its

directors are not less than twenty-one years of age;

(d) A person who shall have had any registration or license issued

under this chapter revoked for cause, until the expiration of one year

from the date of such revocation;

(d-1) A person who has been found to have engaged in unlicensed,

unregistered, or unpermitted conduct under this chapter, until three

years after such finding;

(e) A person not registered or licensed under the provisions of this

chapter, who has been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in violation

of this chapter, until the expiration of one year from the date of such

conviction; or

(f) A corporation or partnership, if any officer and director or any

partner, while not licensed under the provisions of this chapter, has

been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in violation of this chapter,

or has had a registration or license issued under this chapter revoked

for cause, until the expiration of up to one year from the date of such

conviction or revocation as determined by the board.

2. Except as may otherwise be provided for in regulation, it shall be

unlawful for any chief of police, police officer or subordinate of any

police department in the state, to be either directly or indirectly

interested in the cultivation, processing, distribution, or sale of

cannabis products or to offer for sale, or recommend to any registered

organization or licensee any cannabis products. A person may not be

denied any registration or license granted under the provisions of this

chapter solely on the grounds of being the spouse or domestic partner of

a public servant described in this section. The solicitation or

recommendation made to any registered organization or licensee, to

purchase any cannabis products by any police official or subordinate as

hereinabove described, shall be presumptive evidence of the interest of

such official or subordinate in the cultivation, processing,

distribution, or sale of cannabis products.

3. No elected village officer shall be subject to the limitations set

forth in subdivision two of this section unless such elected village

officer shall be assigned duties directly relating to the operation or

management of the police department.