Can You Gift Cannabis in New York? The Rules

You can gift cannabis in New York if you are 21 or older, the person receiving it is 21 or older, and no payment, trade or sale comes with it. New York's Penal Law allows an adult to transfer up to three ounces of cannabis and up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis to another adult without compensation.

Most of the other rules describe what a gift is not. Cannabis handed over with something that is sold counts as a sale, giving cannabis to anyone under 21 is illegal, and a gift cannot cross a state line or go in the mail. This guide quotes the laws themselves and the New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), the state's cannabis regulator. It is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, so check OCM's current pages, and talk to a lawyer about your own situation.

What does New York law say about gifting cannabis?

Section 222.05 of the Penal Law, which lists what is lawful for adults, does not use the word gift. It says transferring. Its first two paragraphs set the possession limit and the gift rule:

The following acts are lawful for persons twenty-one years of age or older: (a) possessing, displaying, purchasing, obtaining, or transporting up to three ounces of cannabis and up to twenty-four grams of concentrated cannabis; (b) transferring, without compensation, to a person twenty-one years of age or older, up to three ounces of cannabis and up to twenty-four grams of concentrated cannabis;

Paragraph (b) sets two conditions. Both people are 21 or older, and the transfer happens without compensation.

The definitions at the start of the same article, in section 222.00, explain why the second condition matters. For article 222, "sell" means "to sell, exchange or dispose of for compensation," and the definition goes on to say that "sell" does not include "the transfer of cannabis or concentrated cannabis between persons twenty-one years of age or older without compensation in the quantities authorized" by section 222.05. A gift within the limits is not a sale. An exchange is.

OCM's adult-use information page puts it in plainer words. Adults 21 and older may "share" cannabis without compensation with another adult 21 or older, under the legal possession limit, but "the sale of a service or commodity associated with the sharing is prohibited, including so-called 'gifting.'"

How much cannabis can you give someone in New York?

Up to three ounces of cannabis and up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis, the same amounts paragraph (a) allows an adult to possess and transport. OCM's Know Your Rights flyer gives edibles and oil as examples of cannabis concentrate, and it describes sharing as legal "within the possession limits."

The limits apply to the person receiving the gift as well, because section 222.05 makes possessing up to those amounts lawful, not more. Our guide to New York cannabis laws covers possession in more detail.

When does a cannabis gift count as a sale?

When something comes back the other way. OCM's adult-use page describes a legal transfer between adults as one made without remuneration, which it spells out as "money paid or service provided." Its Know Your Rights flyer is blunter: "it is illegal to trade, barter, or 'gift' cannabis to someone in exchange for something else."

Read against that wording, none of these is a gift:

• Cannabis traded for anything else, including other cannabis.
• Cannabis a friend pays you back for. Money between friends is still money paid.
• Cannabis given in return for work someone did, which is a service provided.
• Cannabis handed over with something that is sold, such as a T-shirt, a sticker, a ticket or a membership.

The last one is the arrangement OCM describes on its adult-use page, where some people "are attempting to skirt the law with arrangements in which cannabis is given away at the same time as another transaction." OCM calls that activity illegal. The flyer's own example is "gifting" cannabis while selling "a t-shirt or a sticker."

New York's Cannabis Law has a name for it: indirect retail sale. Section 3 defines it as giving cannabis "by any person engaging in a commercial business venture or otherwise providing or offering goods or services to the general public for remuneration," where the cannabis accompanies "the sale of any tangible or intangible property" or "the provision of any service, including but not limited to entry to a venue or event, or a benefit of a membership to a club, association, or other organization." Section 125 then states: "No person shall engage in an indirect retail sale irrespective of whether such person has obtained a registration, license, or permit issued under this chapter." A license does not make it legal.

Can you give cannabis to someone under 21?

No. OCM's adult-use page says you have to be 21 to buy, consume or possess cannabis in New York State, and it warns that adults can be charged with criminal penalties for giving cannabis products to anyone under 21.

The Penal Law is specific. Under section 222.50, a person who, "being twenty-one years of age or older," knowingly and unlawfully "sells or gives, or causes to be given or sold, cannabis or concentrated cannabis to a person less than twenty-one years of age" is guilty of criminal sale of cannabis in the third degree, a class A misdemeanor, subject to narrow exceptions and defenses the statute lists. Under section 222.55, an adult 21 or older who knowingly and unlawfully sells or gives more than three ounces of cannabis or more than 24 grams of concentrated cannabis to someone under 18 is guilty of criminal sale of cannabis in the second degree, a class E felony.

Once a gift is in someone's home, OCM's advice is to store it safely, "locked up, and out of reach of children and pets."

Can you mail cannabis or take it to another state as a gift?

No. OCM's adult-use page is direct: "It is illegal to cross state lines with cannabis, including medical cannabis." Its answer to the question "Can I travel with cannabis?" begins: "Leaving or coming into the state or country with any cannabis product is against the law." Neither statement makes an exception for a state that also allows adult use.

The mail is not an option either. The U.S. Postal Service lists "Marijuana (medical or otherwise)" among the items you cannot send in the U.S. mail.

A gift that rides in a car stays sealed. OCM says it is illegal to have open containers of cannabis in a vehicle, and that neither drivers nor passengers can open any cannabis packaging while in a vehicle.

How should a cannabis gift be packaged?

In its original package, unopened. OCM's label fact sheet says to keep a product in its original child-resistant packaging, and that package carries what the person receiving it needs to know: New York's universal symbol, the required warnings, the expiration date, and a QR code that links to the product's Certificate of Analysis. Our guide to reading a Certificate of Analysis explains what that lab report shows.

Gifts that are not cannabis

The same section of the Penal Law covers gear. Paragraph (d) of section 222.05 makes it lawful to give "any person twenty-one years of age or older cannabis paraphernalia or concentrated cannabis paraphernalia." The accessories page covers batteries, grinders, papers and storage, and the apparel page covers Farmers Choice hats, tees and merch.

New York's retail rules apply to that shelf too. A licensed dispensary may not sell cannabis paraphernalia or cannabis merchandise to anyone who cannot produce valid government-issued identification confirming they are 21 or older, so the person buying a gift at either store is always an adult.

Where to start

Both Farmers Choice stores sell only to adults 21 and older with valid government-issued photo ID. Farmers Choice New Paltz is at 1 Old Route 299, at NYS Thruway Exit 18, open 8AM to 10PM Sunday to Wednesday and 8AM to 11PM Thursday to Saturday. Farmers Choice Fishkill is at 18 Westage Drive, off Route 9 near I-84, open 8AM to 10PM Sunday to Wednesday and 8AM to 11PM Thursday to Saturday. Visit Us, and a Farm Hand will walk you through what is in stock, the formats and how to read a label.