By Not Opting Out, Westchester Largest City and NY 3rd Largest city, Opts-In
On a recent interview on WVOX Radio in Westchester (1460 AM) Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano briefly discussed the legalization of marijuana in New York State. Mayor Spano told WVOX in the morning hosts Dennis and Tonny that the City of Yonkers had no plans to Opt-out of permitting Marijuana Cafes and Dispensaries in 2021.
Spano also understood that if the Yonkers City Council took no action to Opt-Out, they were in essence Opting in to allowing Pot Cafes and stores to open in Westchester’s largest city and New York State’s third largest city.
The deadline to opt out is Dec. 31, 2021, and as we write this story on Dec. 30, there are no plans for the Yonkers City Council to hold a meeting or take action on any items until 2022.
Opinions are split in Westchester, and in Yonkers, about the legalization of marijuana and allowing its sale and comsumption.
The Rockefeller Institute of government -has created a marijuana opt out tracker, to easily find and identify which towns, villages and cities have opted out of permitting marijuana cafes and dispensaries to operate.
According to the Rockefeller tracker, 22 Westchester local governments have opted out. They are:
Ardsley, Bronxville, Eastchester, Elmsford, Irvington, Larchmont, Lewisboro, Mamaroneck Town, Mamaroneck Village, Mount Kisco, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Castle, North Salem, Pelham Manor, Pleasantville, Port Chester, Rye City, Rye Brook, Somers, Tuckahoe, Yorktown. and Harrison, with the Town of Greenburgh splitting their vote, permitted its sale in dispensaries but not allowing Cafes.
And according to the tracker, the Westchester cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, Yonkers and the Town of Pound Ridge and the Village of Sleepy Hollow will permit both cafes and dispensiaries.
According to published reports, more than 400 towns and villages across New York State have opted out, or 31% of all NY towns and villages.
Yonkers joins some of the other Big 5 Cities in New York State to take no action, and thus, opted in. A majority on the City Council of Albany supports legalizing the sale of pot in their community, but took no vote for or against. Common Council member Owusu Anane says, as far as Albany is concerned, the majority of the city council is in support without supporting an official decision. “There was a council member that was interested in the council opting out,” Anane says, “there were a few discussions about it. And an overwhelming number of council members agree it would be silly for us to opt-out looking at our tax base and how low our tax base is.”
The revenues from the sale of marijuana in local communities come from the state excise tax of 9%, local governments will get 4% of that, with county government gettting a small share of 1%.
On July 30, 2021, Westchester DA MImi Rocah announced that, “the courts have granted her petitions to dismiss all cases involving standalone charges of marijuana possession of three ounces or less in accordance with the new Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act. Dismissing these marijuana cases, including underlying bench warrants, has been a priority of mine, and the legislature’s repeal of Article 221 was long overdue. The decriminalization of marijuana possession is critical given the discriminatory way marijuana laws have been used to incarcerate people of color.” DA Rocah said.
“While Black and white Americans used marijuana at similar rates, people of color are much more likely to be arrested than white Americans for marijuana possession. Our office is committed to reducing this disparity and the dismissal of these cases is an important step.”
Despite roughly equal usage rates, Black people are 3.73 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana nationally. “The decriminalization of low-level marijuana related offenses will prevent people from getting unnecessarily involved with the criminal justice system,” Rocah said. “Having to disclose an arrest and record can impact many facets of their life, including limiting employment and housing opportunities.”
Most suburban communites including 22 smaller towns and villages in Westchester, and every community in Nassau County, all have opted out.
The City of Buffalo did not take a vote, thus opting in. The City of Rochester and the City of Syracuse both opted in.
Opponents of marijuana legalization and sale have urged local communities to Opt -out an see how legalization and sale goes in other communities before letting it happen in their community, down town and main street.
Communities that have Opted-out can opt-in at any time. But for Yonkers, they cannot opt out until the law permits it. And those communities that have opted out may face a referendum if residents from their community can get enough signatures on a petition to force it to happen.
