According to a senior NYPD officer, the state’s first legal marijuana dispensary has not implemented adequate security measures, deeming its operator “unprofessional.”
The commanding officer of the 9th Precinct in Greenwich Village, Deputy Inspector Ralph Clement, stated that the Housing Works Cannabis Co. on Broadway did not comply with all rules and regulations.
Clement observed that the store lacked armed security personnel to monitor its stock of candies, joints, and loose “flower.”
Tuesday during the precinct’s public Community Council meeting, he declined to elaborate.
The state Office of Cannabis Management’s laws for the legal sale of marijuana outline a variety of security precautions for pot shops, such as alarms, video cameras, and safe cash storage. The state enables marijuana dispensaries to employ armed security guards, but does not mandate it.
According to paperwork filed with the local community board, Housing Works will always have at least three security guards on-site. This week, a guard was observed stationed at the door of the shop on Broadway near East Eighth Street, and the store appeared to be equipped with an alarm and surveillance cameras.
Clement stated that Housing Works had not contacted the precinct to review its operations and labeled the organization “unprofessional.”
Housing Works, a vast group mostly supporting people with HIV and AIDS, obtained a state license in November to launch a marijuana dispensary, a move the nonprofit said would improve its earnings. However, the licensure was criticized due to the fact that Housing Works provides substance abuse treatment to its customers.
Tuesday, Housing Works Cannabis Co., the separate LLC founded to operate the store, was sued in US District Court in Brooklyn by a woman alleging that the company’s website violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Rasheta Bunting, who is legally blind, alleged in her lawsuit that Housing Works failed to develop and operate the website “to be fully accessible and independently usable” by her and other blind or visually impaired individuals.
Housing Works did not respond to a request for comment immediately.
Helayne Seidman provided more reporting.
»Housing Works legal cannabis shop security is low: NYPD«