Long Island Communities Divided Over Legal Weed Sales

LONG ISLAND, NY — There was no consensus last week after Long Island officials met last week to discuss recreational marijuana sales.

Town of Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer called the meeting and said Long Island communities should ban sales, but he appeared to change his stance after the meeting.

Earlier this month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which made New York the 15th state in the country to legalize the drug for recreational use.

The bill allows people 21 and older to possess up to 3 ounces of the drug and establishes the Office of Cannabis Management to set up the retail sales market. Municipalities can't ban possession of the drug, but they can opt out of retail sales.

During the meeting, town and city leaders from across Long Island discussed the legislation and heard from experts on both sides of the debate, Dan Schaefer, deputy director of communications for the Town of Babylon, told Patch.

"Each municipality is in the process of reviewing the legislation with its respective board before we all reconvene in the next few weeks," he said. "While no consensus was reached during this initial meeting, there was a clear willingness to work together and share ideas on this important topic."

According to multiple reports, Schaffer changed his previous stance after hearing about heavy regulations on the retail market and how it can bring up to $1 million a year in tax revenue.

"It's going to kind of drive out this black market — that really resonated with me," Schaffer said, according to News12. "That was probably the most important thing I heard yesterday."

Across Long Island, local officials were split and expressed different opinions on whether to allow sales.

The Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton already started a plan to sell recreational marijuana this summer, while Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin and Town of Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci expressed interest in choosing to opt out of selling marijuana, according to Newsday.

Town of Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter, Town of Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim and Town of Southold Supervisor Scott Russell all said they want to gather more information before making a decision, according to Newsday.