NY Communities Can Opt Out Of Pot Sales [POLL]

CORRECTION: Cities, towns and villages in New York can opt out of the sale and/or on-site use in retail dispensaries of marijuana. This article originally implied, incorrectly, the personal use of marijuana could be banned. Patch regrets the error.

NEW YORK — Legalized marijuana is finally coming to New York.

It took years of debate, but finally, on March 31, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act into law.

Legalized weed is slated to bring in $350 million in tax revenue to the state and potentially create 30,000 to 60,000 jobs.

There is a lot in the law to unpack, but one concern on the local level is, how will legalized weed impact New York communities?

According to the New York State Association of Counties, the sale and/or on-site use of pot in retail dispensaries can be banned by towns, cities and villages by enacting a local law.

However, the local law would be subject to a permissive referendum, meaning voters who want the sale of pot in their communities can gather enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot. That would allow the voters to possibly override the decision their local government made.

There is a deadline to opting out, by the way. No local law can be adopted to ban pot shops after Dec. 31.

And by opting out, towns, cities and villages deny themselves any tax revenue from the sale of cannabis products.

The law taxes both the distributor and the customer. The distributor is taxed based on the amount of THC in the product.

There is a 9 percent tax on retail sales that goes to the state and an additional 4 percent tax that goes to the localities where the product is sold.

The 4 percent tax is distributed as follows: 1 percent to the county and 3 percent to the town, city or village.

If the local municipality does not allow sales, then it doesn't get any tax revenue.

Some mayors in Long Island have already said they won't allow legal weed to be sold in their communities.

Village of Island Park Mayor Michael McGinty said it was a "moral imperative" to opt out, the New York Post reported.

"I'm not going to be selling my soul for tax revenue," he was quoted in the Post as saying.

In a news release, Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell took issue with the legalization of marijuana.

She called it a "cash grab by NYS at the expense of the health and safety of our communities."

Odell also questioned the law denying municipalities any share of taxes raised if they ban the sale of pot.

"It seems like the same tactics Gov. Cuomo has used for years: agree with me or get punished," she said.

Now it's your turn to weigh in on the issue. Vote in our unscientific poll and tell us what you think in the comments.