NY State Senate Bill 2025-S8065

Senate Bill S8065

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Prohibits the possession of an open container of cannabis or cannabis product in the passenger area of certain motor vehicles

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Transportation Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 15, 2025	referred to transportation

2025-S8065 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Transportation
Law Section:: Vehicle and Traffic Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §1227, add §1227-a, V & T L

2025-S8065 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits the possession of an open container of cannabis or cannabis product in the passenger area of certain motor vehicles.

2025-S8065 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8065      Revised 05/19/25

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to prohibiting
the possession of an open container of cannabis, cannabis product, or
cannabis paraphernalia in the passenger area of certain motor vehicles

 
PURPOSE:

To ban the possession of open containers of cannabis or cannabis
products in motor vehicles in the state.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends Subdivision 1 of section 1227 of the vehicle and traf-
fic law to remove language about the consumption of cannabis in a motor
vehicle from the section of law related to the consumption or possession
of alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Section 2: Adds new section 1227-a to the vehicle and traffic law, to

prohibit the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products, the
possession of open containers of cannabis or cannabis products in the
passenger area of a motor vehicle.  Defines 'open container' as a pack-
age containing cannabis or cannabis products that has a broken seal, or
from which its contents have been partially removed or consumed.

Defines 'passenger area' as the area designated to seat the driver and
passengers while in operation, as well as any area that is readily
accessible to the driver or passenger while sitting upright. This does
not apply to the vehicle's trunk, locked glove box, living quarters of a
house coach or trailer, or the area behind the last upright passenger
seat for vehicles without trunks.

Section 3: Sets effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Currently, NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law does not provide for a violation
for having an open container of cannabis in a motor vehicle. Open
container laws can reduce the risk of impaired driving by discouraging
individuals from consuming cannabis while driving or having such
products readily accessible in the vehicle.

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the American Automo-
bile Association (AAA) encourage states to bolster safe driving laws by
passing cannabis open container laws to prohibit the use of cannabis as
well as the possession of unpackaged cannabis and open or unsealed
cannabis containers, in the passenger compartment of motor vehicles.
Eleven states that have legalized recreational cannabis have also passed
laws prohibiting open containers in motor vehicles:  California, Colora-
do, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana, New Hamp-
shire, New Jersey, Vermont, and Washington.

This bill aligns state law on cannabis with existing open container laws
for alcoholic beverages to reduce the risk of impaired driving.  So long
as any cannabis or cannabis product remains sealed in its original pack-
aging or is stored in a part of the vehicle that is not intended for
passengers, drivers can continue to transport legal cannabis in New
York.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.

2025-S8065 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8065
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 15, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
 
 AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to  prohibiting
   the  possession of an open container of cannabis, cannabis product, or
   cannabis paraphernalia in the passenger area of certain motor vehicles

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  1 of section 1227 of the vehicle and traffic
 law, as amended by chapter 92 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as
 follows:
   1. The drinking of alcoholic beverages [or consumption  of  cannabis,]
 or  the  possession  of an open container containing an alcoholic bever-
 age[,] in a motor vehicle located upon the public highways or  right-of-
 way  public  highway  is prohibited. Any operator or passenger violating
 this section shall be guilty of a traffic infraction.
   The provisions of this section shall not be  deemed  to  prohibit  the
 drinking  of  alcoholic beverages[, the consumption of cannabis by means
 other than burning,] or the possession of an open  container  containing
 an  alcoholic  beverage  by  passengers  in  passenger vehicles operated
 pursuant to a certificate or permit issued by the department  of  trans-
 portation  or  the  United States department of transportation. Further-
 more, the provisions of this section shall not be deemed to prohibit the
 possession of wine  which  is:  (a)  resealed  in  accordance  with  the
 provisions  of  subdivision  four of section eighty-one of the alcoholic
 beverage control law; and (b) is transported in the vehicle's  trunk  or
 is  transported  behind the last upright seat or in an area not normally
 occupied by the driver or passenger in  a  motor  vehicle  that  is  not
 equipped with a trunk.
   §  2.  The  vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
 1227-a to read as follows:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13135-01-5
 S. 8065                             2

 
   § 1227-A. CONSUMPTION OR POSSESSION OF CANNABIS IN CERTAIN MOTOR VEHI-
 CLES. 1.  THE  CONSUMPTION  OF  CANNABIS  OR  CANNABIS  PRODUCT  OR  THE
 POSSESSION  OF AN OPEN CONTAINER CONTAINING CANNABIS OR CANNABIS PRODUCT
 IN THE PASSENGER AREA OF A MOTOR VEHICLE LOCATED UPON THE  PUBLIC  HIGH-
 WAYS,  RIGHT-OF-WAY  PUBLIC HIGHWAYS, OR UPON ANY WAY OR IN ANY PLACE TO
 WHICH THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT OF ACCESS OR UPON ANY WAY OR IN  ANY  PLACE
 TO  WHICH  MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC HAVE ACCESS AS INVITEES OR LICENSEES IS
 PROHIBITED. ANY OPERATOR OR PASSENGER VIOLATING THIS  SECTION  SHALL  BE
 GUILTY OF A TRAFFIC INFRACTION.
   THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THIS  SECTION SHALL NOT BE DEEMED TO PROHIBIT THE
 CONSUMPTION OF CANNABIS OR CANNABIS PRODUCT BY MEANS OTHER THAN BURNING,
 OR THE POSSESSION OF AN OPEN CONTAINER CONTAINING CANNABIS  OR  CANNABIS
 PRODUCT  BY  PASSENGERS  IN  PASSENGER  VEHICLES  OPERATED PURSUANT TO A
 CERTIFICATE OR PERMIT ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OR  THE
 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
   2. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION:
   (A)  "OPEN  CONTAINER" SHALL MEAN THAT THE PACKAGE CONTAINING CANNABIS
 OR CANNABIS PRODUCTS HAS ITS SEAL BROKEN OR FROM WHICH THE CONTENTS HAVE
 BEEN PARTIALLY REMOVED OR CONSUMED.
   (B) "PASSENGER AREA" SHALL MEAN THE AREA DESIGNED TO SEAT  THE  DRIVER
 AND PASSENGERS WHILE THE MOTOR VEHICLE IS IN OPERATION AND ANY AREA THAT
 IS READILY ACCESSIBLE TO THE DRIVER OR PASSENGER WHILE IN A SEATED POSI-
 TION; PROVIDED HOWEVER THAT THE PASSENGER AREA SHALL NOT INCLUDE A MOTOR
 VEHICLE'S  TRUNK,  LOCKED  GLOVE COMPARTMENT OR THE LIVING QUARTERS OF A
 HOUSE COACH OR HOUSE TRAILER, OR IF A MOTOR VEHICLE IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH
 A TRUNK, THE AREA BEHIND THE LAST UPRIGHT SEAT OR AN AREA  NOT  NORMALLY
 OCCUPIED BY THE DRIVER OR PASSENGER.
   (C)  "PASSENGER VEHICLE" SHALL MEAN A VEHICLE DESIGNED TO CARRY TEN OR
 MORE PASSENGERS AND USED TO CARRY PASSENGERS FOR PROFIT OR HIRE.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law.

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