Hemp operators may remove signs claiming illicit activity

A New York state judge has ruled that hemp businesses can remove signs posted outside their businesses by law enforcement agencies that describe them as “illicit cannabis” stores.

Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron issued the temporary restraining order last week to two Manhattan hemp stores that sought to remove the signs proclaiming illegal activity without the businesses having received an administrative hearing or due process, according to the Albany Times Union.

The order could jeopardize ramped-up enforcement against hundreds of hemp shops that have been raided or closed since New York launched a statewide crackdown this spring on unlicensed marijuana sellers.

“As our challenges are now subject to judicial review having exhausted administrative remedies, the courts are confirming what we have been arguing in Albany – this all is unconstitutional and needs to stop,” Joshua Bauchner, a Manhattan attorney representing numerous hemp store owners throughout the state, told the Times Union.

According to court claims in previous and ongoing cases, law enforcement and regulatory agencies have made blind sweeps on hemp retailers without initiating lab tests or confirming product compositions.

Three New York-licensed hemp retailers in August filed a lawsuit claiming their constitutional rights were violated in the wake of several raids against licensed operators.

Last March, state-licensed hemp companies sued New York’s Office of Cannabis Management in federal court, claiming new rules governing hemp-derived cannabinoid products cost them “millions of dollars in losses.”

Meanwhile, in a late October win for legal challengers, a Queens judge ruled that the ongoing crackdown on illicit New York City marijuana shops is unconstitutional.

State regulators have credited the crackdown with salvaging the legal marijuana market.