Legal owners of marijuana stores in New York are pushing for investigations into social media companies and tech giants who they say are allowing the promotion of their unlicensed competitors.
It is time for Governor Kathy Hochul to intervene – and even consider suing – Google, Meta, and others for engaging in “misleading advertising” of unlicensed marijuana stores, some legal dispensary owners told the Post.
“It would be naive of them to say they don’t know what’s going on,” said Osbert Orduna, owner of the delivery service Cannabis Place. “They track every click that comes to their site.”
Jayson Tantalo, co-founder and vice president of operations of the New York Cannabis Retail Association, said he and Orduna are collecting signatures for a letter formally requesting Hochul’s intervention, in her oversight role of the State Cannabis Management Office.
“If they don’t have a license to sell cannabis, they should not have the right to advertise or market their services on Tik Tok, Yahoo, and Google,” Tantalo said.
The draft of the letter accuses the companies of being “accomplices” and claims they may be violating state law.
“These companies must be held accountable for their part in allowing illicit cannabis activity and for not meeting the necessary standards to protect New York consumers and enforce the law,” the letter said.
There are currently 75 licensed cannabis stores throughout the state of New York, while Mayor Eric Adams and Sheriff Anthony Miranda estimate there are about 2,000 smoke shops selling marijuana illegally in New York City alone.
Many illicit marijuana stores have operated practically with impunity.
Few have been padlocked and out of the $25 million in fines levied by state regulators against unlicensed stores, only paltry $22,500 has been collected amid bureaucratic inertia and a lengthy appeals process – although Hochul has proposed new legislation that would make it easier to shut down illegal stores.
A simple search on Google or Google Maps for “marijuana dispensaries near me” will show many unlicensed marijuana stores selling their products with listed reviews – with little to distinguish illegal stores from licensed companies. The sites provide specific addresses, phone numbers, and some include links to websites.
Yelp also lists reviews of unlicensed stores, while sites like Meta’s Instagram allow illegal stores to promote their products, licensed owners said.
In the letter, licensed operators note that they are strictly regulated by the State, with all cannabis products tested according to rigorous standards to protect public health and safety.
“The rampant presence of unlicensed cannabis stores on popular social media platforms not only undermines the integrity of the regulated market, but also poses serious risks to public health and safety… potentially exposing consumers to untested and unsafe products, while depriving the state of much-needed tax revenue,” they stated.
Industry representatives pointed out that social media companies often point to Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996, which grants them immunity from being held accountable for material posted by third parties on their platforms.
But they argued that the Governor and Attorney General Letitia James could sue social media giants under the New York General Business Law, which prohibits “deceptive” conduct aimed at consumers.
Additionally, they argued that licensed cannabis operators should be allowed to bring their own lawsuit against social media networks to “recover actual damages” for harm done to their business.
Hochul and OCM had no immediate comments.
A spokesperson for Google acknowledged Post’s inquiry and said they would investigate the matter.
The Post reached out to Meta and Yelp.
Discussão sobre isso post