Middletown cannabis shop sealed after allegedly selling illicit product to teen

A Dolson Avenue storefront in Middletown is now sealed after state regulators said Green Threads was selling cannabis without a license and, in one allegation, sold product to a 16-year-old.

The New York State Office of Cannabis Management ordered the closure of Green Threads Clothing III, Inc. at 18 Dolson Avenue after an April 29 inspection. State records say the shop requested a hearing the next day, but no one appeared when the case was heard on May 4. The order extended the seal through May 8, 2027.

Investigators said the shop was offering cannabis products for sale without the required registration, license or permit. Spectrum News reported that adult-use products, including flower, edibles and concentrated marijuana, were found stored inside the business, and Middletown police supported the investigation. The agency based the order on Cannabis Law Article 6, including sections 125(1), 132(1)(a) and 138-B, which authorize penalties and sealing orders for unlicensed sales.

The case carries added weight because officials said the shop was tied to sales involving a minor. That raises the stakes for customers who may have bought products that were never tested, labeled or verified under New York’s regulated market, and it creates a fairness issue for nearby licensed operators trying to compete on the same corridor under state rules.

Dr. June Chin, the chief medical officer for the Office of Cannabis Management, has said cannabis products sold outside the regulated market are untested, unverified and not protected by New York’s age-verification, potency and packaging standards. That is the public-health argument behind the shutdown: officials say illegal sellers can put young people and adult consumers at risk while undercutting legal businesses that follow the state’s rules and pay taxes.

The Middletown action also fits a broader enforcement push across Orange County and the Hudson Valley. The Office of Cannabis Management said roughly 450 unlicensed storefronts had been closed statewide by January 2025, and later said about 600 illicit shops had been padlocked by May 2026. The crackdown intensified after a May 2023 law increased civil and tax penalties to as much as $20,000 per day, and after Kathy Hochul launched the Governor’s Illicit Cannabis Enforcement Task Force in May 2024 with more than 20 agencies.

In its 2024 enforcement report, the agency said it carried out more than 1,200 inspections from December 1, 2023, through November 1, 2024, seizing more than $67 million in illicit cannabis products, including 6,929 pounds of flower, 608 pounds of concentrates and 9,106 pounds of edibles. For Middletown, the Dolson Avenue sealing is a visible sign that regulators are treating unlicensed retail as both a neighborhood safety problem and a market integrity issue.