A New York appeals court last week overturned a preliminary injunction that stopped raids on unlicensed cannabis shops and licensed hemp retailers around the state, the Times Union reports. The Appellate Division’s Third Department rejected the shops’ claims that the unwarranted searches were unconstitutional.
The lawsuit, filed by several hemp businesses in the state Supreme Court in 2024, alleges that the Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board (CCB) violated the shop owners’ rights protecting against unreasonable search and seizure. In January 2025, a judge agreed and granted a preliminary injunction to stop the raids.
The appeals court found that Supreme Court Justice Thomas Marcelle erred in his ruling to grant the injunction, that state regulators had properly defined how the state would conduct inspections, and that regulations required retailers to consent to the searches. The appeals court said that those regulations included defined limitations – such as only conducting the searches during business hours – and that penalties were only administrative in nature, not criminal.
“The Cannabis Law and its implementing regulations, when considered together, adequately define how inspections are conducted. An otherwise lawful administrative search is not rendered unconstitutional merely because police participate in the search or because the search uncovers evidence of criminal activity.” — Appellate Divion Third Department ruling