TOWN OF NIAGARA — First they opted out.
Now they’re opting in.
The Town of Niagara Board will hold a public hearing Tuesday night to consider repealing a 2021 local law that opted out of allowing adult-use cannabis retail dispensaries and on-site consumption sites in the town. Following the hearing, the board is expected to dump the 2021 law and replace it with a new local law that will opt into allowing cannabis sites in the town.
Following the decision to join a growing number of municipalities across New York in allowing adult cannabis sales and consumption, the town board is also expected to approve a resolution of support Niagara Hemp Supply’s application for a state license to operate an adult-use cannabis retail dispensary at 2023 Military Road in the town.
The company, operating as One Hemp Holistics, currently sells hemp-based Cannabidiol (CBD) products.
“Hemp One has applied for a (state) license (to sell cannabis) and asked (the town) to support them,” town Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso said. “And our police chief, Craig Guilani, and board member Mike Lee, who is the deputy police superintendent in Niagara Falls, both said we should opt-in. So we can support this local business.”
Virtuoso said Guilani and Lee both provided compelling arguments to reverse the town’s earlier decision on legalized marijuana sales and consumption.
“I was totally against it until I heard from the police chief (and Lee),” Virtuoso said. “But when we hear from our law enforcement people that it’s better to opt in and they give us so many reasons why opting in is better, I think we have to look at it.”
The supervisor said she believes the town’s earlier decision to opt out of the state’s marijuana legalization was based largely on the “unknowns” of how that process would work.
“(The former town board) wasn’t sure how (legalization) would work,” Virtuoso said. “It was new and they weren’t sure how it was going to be handled. A few years down the road, we know more.”
Guilani said his backing for the policy change is based on an explosion of shops illegally selling pot and concerns for the safety of town residents.
“We have all these illegal shops out there and they’re not regulated,” Guilani said. “Opting in is the safer of the two options. We’re able to regulate (sales and consumption) and we’ll know what’s going on (with the licensed dispensaries).”
Lee agreed with Guilani that the sale of marijuana “isn’t going away” and opting into the state’s legalized pot plan is in the public interest.
“Illegal dispensaries operate without oversight,” Lee said. “Exposing consumers to unregulated products and potentially dangerous substances like fentanyl (mixed with cannabis). Supporting a legal cannabis market helps to regulate the industry, ensure product quality and reduce the presence of potentially dangerous products in the market.”
Virtuoso also noted that the first licensed cannabis dispensary in Niagara Falls is set to open on Saturday, right on the border of the city and town.
“If it’s that close to us, why shouldn’t we do it,” Virtuoso asked. “It will give us better control and help us close down the non-legitimate businesses.”