Report: New York investigating several brands for interstate cannabis trafficking

April 8, 2025

New York marijuana regulators are reportedly investigating six companies that may have taken part in illegal shipments of cannabis across state lines in violation of both federal and state law, according to The New York Times.

The targets of the investigation, according to unnamed sources, include California-based Stiiizy and Turn, Oregon-based Gron, Washington-based Mfused, and New York companies Waahoo and To the Moon, The Times reported.

The companies all came up in conjunction with an inspection Monday at two licensed cannabis processing facilities on Long Island owned by Omnium Canna, where New York Office of Cannabis Management agents were seen. The investigation has been ongoing since February, The Times reported, and Omnium works with all six of the targeted companies.

Omnium produced 1.2 million cannabis products for the six businesses, with a value of $47 million, just since October, The Times reported.

Spokespeople for Stiiizy, Gron and Omnium denied any wrongdoing and said their dealings have all been by the book. They characterized the inspections at Omnium as a routine audit. A spokesperson for Mfused also told MJBizDaily that it is “not under investigation.”

“At no point have we sourced cannabis from out of state or engaged in practices that violate New York’s cannabis regulations,” Stiiizy CEO James Kim told The Times.

Drew Tybus, a spokesman for Gron, added, “We are not under investigation in any state in which we operate or where our products are manufactured and sold, and refute any claims or references to the contrary.”

The OCM didn’t respond to requests for comment by The Times, but a former state Cannabis Control Board member said the practice of shipping marijuana illegally across state lines is essentially an open secret in the cannabis trade.

“Everybody knows it’s going on, but nobody’s being held accountable for it,” agricultural scientist Jennifer Gilbert Jenkins told The Times. “If the (OCM) wants there to be confidence in the state market, then they need to come out and show that they’re on top of it. And that’s not the case.”

The Times also obtained a whistleblower report that was more than 2,000 pages long, which claimed there’s a major disconnect between lab testing results of cannabis goods that look for contaminants and the product safety labels on many products being sold at licensed dispensaries. The true testing results, according to the whistleblower, could result in products being recalled or quarantined, The Times reported.

Part of the problem is that New York has been slow to roll out a track-and-trace system for cannabis companies, similar to what’s required in most other state marijuana markets. These software programs are designed to track inventory and prevent illegal diversion. During testimony before a joint budget hearing in February, Felicia Reid, acting executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, said the agency was in the process of standing up BioTracl as the state’s track-and-trace system.