PETTIONERS (LICENSED CANNABIS RETAILERS) DID NOT DEMONSTRATE THAT THE RESPONDENT AGENCY’S REGULATIONS CONCERNING INSPECTIONS, SEARCHES AND SEIZURES AT PETITIONERS’ PLACES OF BUSINESS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL; THE ALLEGATION THAT THE MANNER IN WHICH THE INSPECTIONS ARE CONDUCTED VIOLATES THE CONSTITUTION IS PREMATURE BECAUSE THE ALLEGATION HAS NOT YET BEEN SUBJECTED TO ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW, I.E., THE “EXHAUSTION OF REMEDIES” REQUIREMENT HAS NOT BEEN MET (THIRD DEPT). ​

The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Corcoran, determined the preliminary injunction prohibiting certain inspections of petitioners’ businesses, which are licensed for the retail sale of cannabis, should not have been granted. The respondent is an agency, the NYS Cannabis Control Board.

… [Re:] petitioners’ attempt to show the likelihood of a successful constitutional challenge, we find that Supreme Court abused its discretion in granting the preliminary injunction because petitioners failed to show that the statutory and regulatory scheme is invalid in all of its applications … . * * *  When viewed as a whole, we find that the statutory and regulatory framework provides “meaningful limitation[s]” on an inspector’s discretion and ensures that “the search is limited in scope to that necessary to meet the interest that legitimized the search in the first place” … . …

To the extent petitioners challenge the manner in which inspections were applied to their particular businesses, these “as-applied” claims are premature because they have not been subjected to administrative review. A facial challenge requires examination of the statute “on a cold page” and without reference to the particular conduct … , whereas an “as-applied” challenge “requires an analysis of the facts of a particular case” … . Matter of Super Smoke N Save LLC v New York State Cannabis Control Bd., 2026 NY Slip Op 03715, Third Dept 6-11-26

Practice Point: A court can review an agency’s regulations which are alleged to be unconstitutional “on a cold page,” but a court cannot review the manner in which the regulations are applied absent an agency determination (the “exhaustion of remedies” rule in administrative law).