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Cannabis dispensary coming to Murray
Catching up: Community Board 1 approved (well, it was a no/unless vote, meaning as long as applicant follows the stipulations, it’s a yes) its first state-licensed cannabis dispensary for Murray, though there are a lot more coming down the pike.
Rezidue (ugh), owned by Nubia Ashley, will have 2800 square feet on three levels with an occupancy of 69; her hope in October (I am catching up) was to be open by the end of the year. As of now, the state is not issuing licenses for consumption, but the applicant said she will seek that eventually. (CB1’s Licensing Committee was rightly concerned about ventilation.) (The Office of Cannabis Management is not currently accepting applications for on-site consumption licenses — only for cultivators, processors and dispensaries. You can read more about the on-site consumption regulations here.)
I expected a lot more community opposition, but from what I could tell there was just one resident at the meeting. And she, a resident of 14 Murray next door, said she didn’t care if it was legal or illegal, she didn’t want to hear “one single thing” or endure loitering, hypodermic needles on the street and the smell of weed. She said she was ready to be outside that store every single day protesting it with a “phalanx of moms.”
(A lot of people talk about there being a lot of cash on hand, but who uses cash these days??)
There was some back and forth: Ashley asked her if she was going to be protesting outside the liquor stores, and the neighbor said, “This is totally different and you know it.” The applicant then noted that the resident should be protesting the illegal cannabis stores around the neighborhood, since they are unregulated and abide by no rules for security. “I appreciate you,” Ashley said, “and I hope that I can work with you and that you don’t have to stand outside.”
When one committee member, Brendan Thompson, asked Ashley why she picked what he thought of as a quiet street (I actually think of Murray as pretty lively at night with the bars…), she said she went to college in the area as a young woman and she loved the neighborhood. She got a little teary when she recalled that in college she didn’t have much, but she had built herself up as a business woman and a property owner and came back here when it was time to open this business. The committee member said she should have gone a couple blocks over and she noted that there is a commercial space built out there and that it was pretty nice and had an additional space for a breakroom for employees.
CB1’s full board resolution had these stipulations:
- OCM allows dispensaries to operate between the hours of 8a and 2a, but the applicant has agreed to hours of 9a to 9p Monday to Thursday, 9a to midnight Friday and Saturday; and 9a to 8p on Sundays.
- There will be bicycle delivery service during the hours of operation and bikes will be stored inside. (The state does not allow outside delivery services, so the store has to have its own delivery people on staff.)
- The applicant intends to apply for on-site consumption in the future and agrees to come back to the community board when that time comes.
- There will only be recorded background music with no subwoofers. They intend to have a DJ at their grand opening event only.
- The applicant said that they intend to be a cannabis events organizer, with six events per year without the use of a subwoofer.
- They will employ two security personnel.
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For that kind of money we can do better than Odeon. But what you’re seeing is a lot of businesses that are bypassing the process this person is taking the time and making the effort to go through. Such places _should_ be shut down, but a legitimate business, built legitimately, is just the way of the world here. If the only cannabis shops were legal ones there would be very few.
And where’s the NYPD on the non-legal cannabis shops? Investigating their whereabouts? It’s not like they’re in the subway, where the cops would never find them.
If the idea of legalization is to gain tax revenue from the legal shops, why not protect those, and that revenue, by eliminating the non-legal ones? The NYPD was established to protect property wealth from damage, and so this current lack of enforcement appears a bit mystifying. Almost seems like a work action of some sort.
Is there any hope to reverse the decision to legalize marijuana? Our culture is moving away from cigarette smoking as unhealthy and polluting, but is at the same time embracing weed, which seems a radically inconsistent approach.
U.S. Cigarette Smoking Rate Steady Near Historical Low
https://news.gallup.com/poll/509720/cigarette-smoking-rate-steady-near-historical-low.aspx
Or at least can we have laws about where it can be smoked? I don’t want a secondhand high every time I walk down the street.
(Helen Qiu, who ran for city council district 1, and lost last week to Christopher Marte, advocated a tough on crime stance, and also included in her platform: “marijuana use in designated areas only”. That seems a very reasonable policy.)
This kind of business does NOTHING to enhance our neighborhood or community. Instead, it provides yet another disgusting and unfortunate addiction that those living near are forced to breath in and endure. At what point will these shops become redundant?!? They are rivalling CVS and MedRite in frequency at this point. YUCK.
You asked: “A lot of people talk about there being a lot of cash on hand, but who uses cash these days??”
Cannabis is illegal under federal law and most banks and payment processors (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) that are federally regulated are reluctant to be involved in criminal transactions.
I’m not a customer of these businesses, so there may be some credit/debit card workarounds involving state chartered banks and thrifts.
But the challenges for cannabis stores working within the banking system would explain why there is more cash on hand than otherwise expected (and why they are attractive robbery targets).
You’re right! So that is a valid concern, considering how big the receipts are for these places. Well, at least the big banks are left out of these deals…
I didn’t even know it was illegal under federal law. Yet there’s no apparent conflict between the federal government and state governments? Fed is just letting this go?
(I am NOT a lawyer and even if I said I was you should not take legal advice from internet message boards.)
There is a conflict between federal and local laws on recreational amounts of cannabis. It is illegal everywhere in the United States under federal law. However, from a practical point of view, most of the policing is done by local cops. You see many federal police walking the beat around Tribeca? NYC cops and NY state troopers won’t enforce federal cannabis laws.
Be extra careful not to bring your bag of weed with you if you go somewhere with federal law enforcement: airports, national parks/monuments or federal buildings (like jury duty in a federal courthouse). Also, if there is risk you’re going to get picked up by the FBI or the US Marshalls for a federal crime it’s a good idea to be drug-free so you don’t face extra possession charges.
I repeat: This is not legal advice. Drugs are bad for you.
As cannabis is still not legal in all states, the issue with using credit cards is that the transaction may take place across state lines. With any “flyover” transaction, if the business is transacted at any level, even administrative, in a state that bans that type of transaction, it is illegal. Thus, legal dispensaries can only use cash or direct bank debits.