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City Will Not Have Say In Pot Sale Opt Out

The city of Jamestown government will have no say on whether to opt-out of allowing retail pot shops within their borders if recreational marijuana is legalized by the state government.

Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, told The Post-Journal that the city of Jamestown is not one of the cities Gov. Andrew Cuomo stated could opt-out of allowing retail marijuana shops.

During the governor’s State of the State address last week, Cuomo said cities and counties could prohibit retail pot shops. However, Teresi said he has been told by state officials only the six largest cities in the state, New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, Syracuse and Albany, are allowed to opt-out.

“That option doesn’t apply to small and mid-size cities that is reserved to the 62 counties and the big six cities of New York,” Teresi said. “We will follow along with what the county decides. That decision will be made by the County Executive (George Borrello) and the (Chautauqua) County Legislature. The towns, villages and the two cities will go along with what they decided.”

Teresi said it’s a foregone conclusion that recreational marijuana will be approved by the state government. Once state officials do approve recreational marijuana, he said it will be up to county officials to decided on how to implement it locally or to opt-out.

“(County officials) will have to decided if they don’t want sales dispensers in the county and to not collect the tax revenue,” he said. “It could drive people to adjoining counties like Cattaraugus and Erie if not allowed in Chautauqua County. They will also have to decide if by opting out will still allow for illegal opportunities, illegal drug dealers selling the substance. The county executive and legislation will need to review this and come to a determination that will then apply to the rest of us. They will have to weigh all the factors and weigh in a lot of considerations on whether to opt-out or move forward.”

Borrello told The Post-Journal he would be interested in the county opting out of legal retail sales of the drug.

Cuomo said that future legislation would allow county and city governments to choose whether to allow retail sales within their boundaries. He mentioned in the State of the State address that statewide legalization would raise an estimated $300 million per year from taxes.

Borrello noted that he has concerns regarding the potentially negative impacts on social welfare, law enforcement and local business legal marijuana might have.

The Chautauqua County Legislature would likely have to vote to have the county opt out of a state law legalizing retail marijuana sales. County legislators have mixed feelings on the subject and how marijuana could impact residents and the local economy. Most expressed a need to talk with each other in further discussion this year to come to a consensus on how Chautauqua County should handle marijuana legalization if it passes. Currently, medicinal marijuana is legal in New York. If recreational marijuana becomes legal in the state, New York could become the 11th state, along with Washington, D.C., to do so, joining Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Colorado, Alaska, Michigan, Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts.

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