With New York legalizing marijuana early this year, many were excited for the coming wave of dispensaries littered around the state. As of legalization, local towns and villages were given the option to opt-out of hosting dispensaries or on-site consumption lounges. These towns within the state were given until December 31st to decide whether they wanted dispensaries or not. As of December 11th, roughly 400 towns and villages have opted out of the initiative, banning cannabis consumption lounges and dispensaries from residing within their borders. These 400+ towns account for roughly 31% of the total amount of small towns and villages.
According to Pix11 News in New York state, the Rockefeller Institute nonpartisan public policy research arm launched a “Marijuana Opt-Out Tracker” to allow citizens to search for which towns have chosen to opt-out of allowing these cannabis businesses.
More towns are expected to come forth opting out of the initiative, but the final number will only be known at the turn of the year.
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