NYC lawmakers call for halt to pot shop expansion
City council members from all five boroughs are pushing for a halt to the expansion of licensed cannabis dispensaries in New York City. They have called on the state to maintain the current 1,000-foot spacing between cannabis shops, arguing that reducing that spacing would degrade neighborhood quality and encourage illegal sales.
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Council members comment
Nine members of the council’s Common Sense Caucus sent a letter to the state’s Cannabis Control Board and its chairwoman Tremaine Wright. The letter expressed strong opposition to any reduction in the buffer zone. The lawmakers, including Robert Holden, Joann Ariola and Vickie Paladino of Queens, stressed that “flooding our city with even more dispensaries” would harm communities and devalue the licenses of existing legal businesses.
Praise for local enforcement
Council members praised Mayor Eric Adams’ Operation Padlock to Protect initiative, which closed hundreds of illegal cannabis shops, but also highlighted the ongoing challenges in closing illegal shops and said much more needs to be done before opening new licensed dispensaries can be considered.
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Concerns about market saturation
Rep. Harvey Epstein of Manhattan echoed those concerns at a press conference, criticizing the idea of shrinking the buffer zone, saying it could lead to market oversaturation. New York already has 161 licensed dispensaries, nearly half of them in the city and on Long Island. Some shop owners are threatening legal action if the state relaxes the buffer rules.
Ongoing debate
The state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) argues that the proposed rule changes would allow for a more flexible licensing process. The OCM plans to release the proposal for public comment and seek input on what the “public convenience and benefit” framework should look like before making any final decisions.
5 Cannabis Dispensaries in the Hudson Valley
