CARTHAGE, New York (WWNY) – The owner of two north country smoke shops is pushing back against the state after his stores were shut down last week for allegedly selling cannabis products illegally.<\/p>\n
Smokers Corner locations in Lowville and Carthage are now closed indefinitely. The owner disputes he did anything wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll legal products – they were all right on shelves. I had nothing to hide and that\u2019s exactly what I told the judge, also. I had nothing to hide; they were all right on shelves,\u201d said Preet Singh, owner of Smokers Corner.<\/p>\n
State cites two violations<\/p>\n
The state cannabis management report lists two violations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had information from well-placed sources that they were selling to minors. We were seeing product in possession of minors that we believe was coming from that store,\u201d said Daniel Haughney, director of enforcement and investigation with the New York State Office of Cannabis Management.<\/p>\n
The state points to no specific example. Singh said it never happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were just going off of some anonymous complaint that has no grounds, that has no truth,\u201d Singh said.<\/p>\n
THC levels in dispute<\/p>\n
The other violation involves selling cannabis products without the correct license.<\/p>\n
Singh has a cannabinoid-hemp license for his Carthage store. His license allows him to sell hemp products containing a maximum of 0.3 percent THC, the chemical that makes you high, but officers said they found products much more potent than that at his licensed Carthage shop and at his unlicensed Lowville shop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn both locations, we found an array of cannabis flower products, cannabis THC vapes, and cannabis concentrate products,\u201d Haughney said.<\/p>\n
Singh said he was working on getting his Lowville shop licensed, but was selling product there anyway, believing the federal rule that hemp is legal supersedes state law.<\/p>\n
Singh said he gets his stock from licensed distributors, and they should be the ones checking the THC percentages.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shouldn\u2019t be the one accountable for some of the products being above my license if they are coming from the hemp distributor,\u201d Singh said.<\/p>\n
Singh said he is waiting on a judge\u2019s approval to reopen. He also hopes the state reevaluates how they do these searches going forward.<\/p>\n
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