GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (WRGB) —
Three Warren County smoke shops were padlocked this week after an undercover investigation found they sold cannabis, flavored vapes, and nitrous oxide to people under 21, authorities said.
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office ran the operation in October using six college-age students under 21. Investigators said three out of five stores visited illegally sold products to the underage buyers.
After reviewing the case file, the New York State Office of Cannabis Management obtained a court order to inspect the three shops: Smoke Plus on Route 9, 212 Smoke on Quaker Road, and Queens Exotic on South Western Avenue. During those inspections, OCM seized illicit cannabis products, while the Department of Health identified thousands of illegal flavored vapes.
“We received public complaints about the locations operating… some of them involved complaints of sale to minors so we assigned those to our investigators who immediately start looking into the locations,” said Daniel Haughney, director of enforcement and investigations for OCM. “Working with Warren County Sheriff’s Office, they were able to conduct undercover operations with underage individuals to confirm the sale to minors,” he said.
Haughney said investigators continue to see smoke shops using tactics to appeal to younger customers, pointing to a recent case in Ulster County.
“The shop down there was handing out flyers to high school kids trying to generate business with underage youth. We conducted an inspection there on Monday and ultimately seized an amount of cannabis products,” he said.
Two local employees — Hailey R. Summerford, 23, and Gianni S. Singh, 21 — were charged with criminal sale of cannabis in the third degree and violating Public Health Law 3380 for selling nitrous oxide to someone under 21. Both were issued appearance tickets.
Dr. Mary Halloran Ruhle, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Capital Outreach Wellness Network, said exposure to substances like nicotine and nitrous oxide can have long-term impacts on developing brains.
“We know that the brains develop up until the age of 25. We know that use of nicotine in adolescents causes difficulty in learning, attention, concentration, creates mood issues, anxiety, increase in depressive symptoms,” she said.
Ruhle also said social media makes harmful products more visible to young people. When asked about that role, she said, “Yeah, I think that social media could do a better job on sort of protecting kids by monitoring the content that kids can see. However, I think a majority of it also falls on their parents and guardians.”
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Authorities said anyone who suspects illegal sales at a cannabis shop should contact the Office of Cannabis Management.