The City of Niagara ready to legalize the sale of marijuana

CITY OF NIAGARA — First they withdrew.

Now they are joining.

The Niagara City Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing Tuesday evening to consider repealing a 2021 local law that excluded allowing adult-use cannabis retail dispensaries and on-premises consumption sites in the city. After the hearing, the council is expected to scrap the 2021 law and replace it with a new local law that will allow cannabis locations in the city.

Following the decision to join a growing number of municipalities across New York State in allowing the sale and consumption of cannabis for adults, the City Council is also expected to approve a resolution supporting Niagara Hemp Supply’s application to obtain a state license to operate an adult-use cannabis retail dispensary. at 2023 Route Militaire in the town.

The company, operating as One Hemp Holistics, currently sells hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) products.

“Hemp One applied for a (state) license (to sell cannabis) and asked (the city) to support them,” said city Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso. “And our police chief, Craig Guilani, and Mike Lee, a board member and deputy superintendent of police in Niagara Falls, both said we should join. So we can support this local business.

Virtuoso said Guilani and Lee both provided compelling arguments for reversing the city’s previous decision regarding legalizing the sale and use of marijuana.

“I was totally against it until I heard from the police chief (and Lee),” Virtuoso said. “But when our law enforcement officials tell us it’s best to register and they give us so many reasons why it’s best to register, I think we need to think about that.”

The supervisor said she believed the city’s previous decision to opt out of the state’s legalization of marijuana was based largely on the “unknowns” about how that process would work.

“(The previous city council) didn’t know how (legalization) would work,” Virtuoso said. “It was new and they didn’t know how it was going to be handled. A few years later, we know more.

Guilani said his support for the policy change was based on an explosion of stores selling weed illegally and concerns about the safety of city residents.

“We have all these illegal stores and they’re not regulated,” Guilani said. “Membership is the safer of the two options. We are able to regulate (sales and consumption) and we will know what is happening (with licensed dispensaries).

Lee agrees with Guilani that the sale of marijuana “is not going to go away” and that adhering to the state’s marijuana legalization 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 regulate the industry, ensure product quality and reduce the presence of potentially dangerous products on the market.

Virtuoso also noted that the first licensed cannabis dispensary in Niagara Falls is set to open Saturday, right on the city-town border.

“If it’s so close to us, why shouldn’t we do it,” Virtuoso asked. “This will give us better control and help us shut down non-legitimate businesses. »