N.Y. PEN Law § 222.05
This is the official text of N.Y. PEN Law § 222.05, part of New York’s Penal Law — defines crimes and punishments in New York.
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Personal use of cannabis
Official statutory text
§ 222.05 Personal use of cannabis.\n Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary:\n 1. The following acts are lawful for persons twenty-one years of age\nor older: (a) possessing, displaying, purchasing, obtaining, or\ntransporting up to three ounces of cannabis and up to twenty-four grams\nof concentrated cannabis;\n (b) transferring, without compensation, to a person twenty-one years\nof age or older, up to three ounces of cannabis and up to twenty-four\ngrams of concentrated cannabis;\n (c) using, smoking, ingesting, or consuming cannabis or concentrated\ncannabis unless otherwise prohibited by state law;\n (d) possessing, using, displaying, purchasing, obtaining,\nmanufacturing, transporting or giving to any person twenty-one years of\nage or older cannabis paraphernalia or concentrated cannabis\nparaphernalia;\n (e) planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, processing or\npossessing cultivated cannabis in accordance with section 222.15 of this\narticle; and\n (f) assisting another person who is twenty-one years of age or older,\nor allowing property to be used, in any of the acts described in\nparagraphs (a) through (e) of this subdivision.\n 2. Cannabis, concentrated cannabis, cannabis paraphernalia or\nconcentrated cannabis paraphernalia involved in any way with conduct\ndeemed lawful by this section are not contraband nor subject to seizure\nor forfeiture of assets under article four hundred eighty of this\nchapter, section thirteen hundred eleven of the civil practice law and\nrules, or other applicable law, and no conduct deemed lawful by this\nsection shall constitute the basis for approach, search, seizure, arrest\nor detention.\n 3. Except as provided in subdivision four of this section, in any\ncriminal proceeding including proceedings pursuant to section 710.20 of\nthe criminal procedure law, no finding or determination of reasonable\ncause to believe a crime has been committed shall be based solely on\nevidence of the following facts and circumstances, either individually\nor in combination with each other:\n (a) the odor of cannabis;\n (b) the odor of burnt cannabis;\n (c) the possession of or the suspicion of possession of cannabis or\nconcentrated cannabis in the amounts authorized in this article;\n (d) the possession of multiple containers of cannabis without evidence\nof concentrated cannabis in the amounts authorized in this article;\n (e) the presence of cash or currency in proximity to cannabis or\nconcentrated cannabis; or\n (f) the planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, processing or\npossessing cultivated cannabis in accordance with section 222.15 of this\narticle.\n 4. Paragraph (b) of subdivision three of this section shall not apply\nwhen a law enforcement officer is investigating whether a person is\noperating a motor vehicle, vessel or snowmobile while impaired by drugs\nor the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and any drug or drugs\nin violation of subdivision four or subdivision four-a of section eleven\nhundred ninety-two of the vehicle and traffic law, or paragraph (e) of\nsubdivision two of section forty-nine-a of the navigation law, or\nparagraph (d) of subdivision one of section 25.24 of the parks,\nrecreation and historic preservation law. During such investigations,\nthe odor of burnt cannabis shall not provide probable cause to search\nany area of a vehicle that is not readily accessible to the driver and\nreasonably likely to contain evidence relevant to the driver's\ncondition.\n
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