2023 New York Laws › CAN - Cannabis › Article 6 - General Provisions › 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.