NY clamps down on businesses offering marijuana as a ‘gift’

By JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — While New York works to launch a legal recreational marijuana market, some entrepreneurs have jumped into a legal gray area. They say they’re not selling pot but are giving it away while people buy something else. Now, the state says they need to stop. The Office of Cannabis Management said Tuesday it sent letters to more than two dozen enterprises it suspects of illegally selling weed. They were told to stop or face fines and potential criminal charges. The agency wouldn’t say what entities got letters. The state law legalizing recreational marijuana doesn’t discuss such “gifts” but does allow “transferring, without compensation” small amounts of pot.