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This entry was published on 2023-05-12
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SECTION 496-D
Enforcement
Tax (TAX) CHAPTER 60, ARTICLE 20-C
§ 496-d. Enforcement. The commissioner or the commissioner's duly
authorized representatives are hereby authorized:

(a) To conduct regulatory inspections during normal business hours of
any place of business, including a vehicle used for such business, where
adult-use cannabis products are distributed, placed, stored, sold or
offered for sale. For the purposes of this section, "place of business"
shall not include a residence or other real property, or any personal
vehicle on or about such property, not held out as open to the public or
otherwise being utilized in a business or commercial manner, unless
probable cause exists to believe that such residence, real property or
vehicle is being used in such a business or commercial manner for the
buying or selling of adult-use cannabis products.

(b) To examine any adult-use cannabis products and the books, papers,
invoices and other records of any place of business or vehicle where
adult-use cannabis products are distributed, placed, stored, sold or
offered for sale. Any person in possession, control or occupancy of any
such business is required to give to the commissioner or the
commissioner's duly authorized representatives or the duly authorized
representatives of the office of cannabis management, the means,
facilities, and opportunity for such examinations. For the purposes of
this section, "place of business" shall not include a residence or other
real property, or any personal vehicle on or about such property, not
held out as open to the public or otherwise being utilized in a business
or commercial manner, unless probable cause exists to believe that such
residence, real property or vehicle is being used in such a business or
commercial manner for the buying or selling of adult-use cannabis
products.

(c) If any person registered under section four hundred ninety-four of
this article, or their agents, refuses to give the commissioner, or the
commissioner's duly authorized representatives, the means, facilities
and opportunity for the inspections and examinations required by this
section, the commissioner, after notice and an opportunity for a
hearing, may revoke their registration to distribute or sell adult-use
cannabis products at retail:

(i) for a period of one year for the first such failure;

(ii) for a period of up to three years for a second such failure
within a period of three years; and

(iii) for a period of up to seven years for a third such failure
within five years.

(d) The commissioner or the commissioner's duly authorized
representatives shall seize any illicit cannabis found in any place of
business or vehicle where adult-use cannabis products are distributed,
placed, stored, sold or offered for sale by any person who does not
possess a certificate of registration as described in section four
hundred ninety-four of this chapter.

(e) All illicit cannabis seized pursuant to the authority of this
chapter or any other law of this state shall be turned over to the
office of cannabis management or their authorized representative. Such
seized illicit cannabis shall, after notice and an opportunity for a
hearing, be forfeited to the state. If the office of cannabis management
determines the illicit cannabis cannot be used for law enforcement
purposes, it may, within a reasonable time after the forfeiture of such
illicit cannabis, upon publication in the state registry, destroy such
forfeited illicit cannabis.