Cincinnatus town board. (Photo Source: Kevin L. Smith/Cortland Voice).
The Cincinnatus town board voted 4-0 in favor of adopting a local law that prohibits marijuana-based dispensaries and on-site consumption establishments at a meeting on Thursday.
In March, New York state legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 or older. The state is giving municipalities until Dec. 31 of this year to opt out of allowing marijuana-based dispensaries and on-site consumption establishments. If municipalities don’t take action, both will be automatically legal at the beginning of next year.
Town supervisor Luann King said the planning board recommended opting the town out of both parts of the state’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act. She added members of the planning board have “seen and heard plenty of drug-related issues in (Cortland) county,” and opting in “would add to the problem.”
“I think we have enough problems with drugs,” said town resident Wayne Landers, who spoke at the public hearing held in regards to the local law. “I’ve heard of fatalities related to drugs. We don’t need any more.”
Cincinnatus town resident Wayne Landers. (Photo Source: Kevin L. Smith/Cortland Voice).
The Cincinnatus town board will now go to a permissive referendum for its newly adopted local law. It gives any town resident 30 days to file a petition with signatures from residents in the area.
Any further public input or review of potential petitions from residents will be discussed at the town board’s next meeting on Thursday, Sept. 9, King said.
King noted the town will only have the referendum through petitions and not up for a vote during the general election in November. She added the town board “wasn’t comfortable” with the timetable of action needed before the state’s Dec. 31 deadline.
“We will see what the town has to say at our next meeting,” King said
