STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4618--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 17, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PEOPLES-STOKES, LUPARDO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the cannabis law, the penal law, and the criminal proce- dure law, in relation to unlawful possession and sale of cannabis The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision 4 of section 132 of 2 the cannabis law is amended to read as follows: 3 Any person under the age of twenty-one found to be in possession of 4 three ounces or less of cannabis or cannabis products who is not a 5 certified patient pursuant to article three of this chapter shall be in 6 violation of this chapter and shall be subject to the following penalty: 7 § 2. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 3 of section 222.05 of the penal 8 law, as added by chapter 92 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 (d) the possession of multiple containers of cannabis or concentrated 11 cannabis without evidence of [concentrated cannabis] possession in more 12 than the amounts authorized in this article; 13 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 222.50 of the penal law, as added by 14 chapter 92 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 15 2. being twenty-one years of age or older, he or she knowingly and 16 unlawfully sells or gives, or causes to be given or sold, cannabis or 17 concentrated cannabis to [a] another person and that person is less than 18 twenty-one years of age; except that in any prosecution under this 19 subdivision, it is a defense that the defendant was less than three 20 years older than the person under the age of twenty-one at the time of 21 the offense. This subdivision shall not apply to designated caregivers, 22 practitioners, employees of a registered organization or employees of a EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD07443-02-3
A. 4618--A 2 1 designated caregiver facility acting in compliance with article three of 2 the cannabis law. 3 § 4. Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 4 440.46-a of the criminal procedure law, as added by chapter 92 of the 5 laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 6 (ii) If the petition meets the criteria in subparagraph [(i)] (ii) of 7 paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the court after affording the parties 8 an opportunity to be heard and present evidence, may substitute, unless 9 it is not in the interests of justice to do so, a conviction for an 10 appropriate lesser offense under article two hundred twenty-two of the 11 penal law. 12 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to 13 have been in full force and effect on and after March 31, 2021.