Hempstead Town Board Opposed To Marijuana Sales

HEMPSTEAD TOWN, NY — The Town of Hempstead does not want to become the Town of Hemp-Stead.

The Hempstead Town Board said it unanimously opposes the sale of recreational marijuana within the township, which could make it harder for residents to purchase products when they hit the market in the state next year.

Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Marijuana Legalization and Taxation Act, which legalizes recreational marijuana for adult use. Among the stipulations of the law is a clause that lets municipalities opt out of the sale of marijuana within their jurisdictions. The drug would still be legal there, but it could not be sold.

The seven-member Hempstead Town Board — which is made up of Republican Town Supervisor Donald Clavin and six councilmembers, only one of whom is a Democrat — were united against the sale.

"The town board is united in its opposition to the sale of recreational marijuana and also stands firmly against 'on premises' consumption of marijuana at facilities within the Town of Hempstead,” the board said in a statement.

Their call was echoed by Town of Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer, who called on all Long Island municipalities to band together to ban the sale of marijuana on the Island.

"We're protecting our quality of life and we're not creating a whole host of problems that could end up costing us lives and resources," he told NBC New York.

If the Town of Hempstead banned the sale of marijuana within its borders, it would affect all of the non-incorporated areas within the town. All villages and the City of Long Beach would have to pass their own ordinances to ban the sale. Four village mayors have already signaled they would like to ban marijuana within their jurisdictions: Rockville Centre, Freeport, Atlantic Beach and Island Park.

Elliot Choi, counsel at Vicente Sederberg and managing attorney of the cannabis firm's New York office, told Patch that local bans on marijuana stores will deprive communities of tax revenue, jobs, and other opportunities.

"Prohibiting legal sales also makes it harder to stamp out the existing unregulated market. If local demand is not being met by regulated stores, it will continue to be met by unregulated dealers. Simply put, opting out will not keep cannabis out of these communities," he said. "In states where cannabis is legal, many local governments that rushed to ban adult sales have since changed course and now allow them. There is not a single case in which a community that allowed sales decided to go back and prohibit them. It’s reminiscent of the states and localities that made the costly mistake of clinging to alcohol prohibition for years after its repeal."