When marijuana was legalized for adult use in New York in the spring of 2020 there were a lot of unknowns.

One thing that was unknown was if your local town was going to allow marijuana dispensaries to set up shop within their borders and if they would allow places to consume cannabis products within their town.

Think of it like alcohol. There are places you can buy alcohol and there are places you can consume alcohol. So, liquor stores in comparison to bars. Some cities are opting out on both and some are just opting out of the consumption sites.

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The latest town to opt-out of marijuana consumption sites is Colonie. The town voted to not allow them within their town borders. According to the article at Spectrum News, the main reason they decided to say vote no was because of the lack of a reliable test to determine how impaired someone is with they are under the influence of cannibus. Basically, determining if someone is too high to drive.

Local government officials have until Dec. 31 to decide if they want consumption sites or recreational marijuana retail stores within their town limits. Here's the interesting part about that decision. If the local governments don't opt-out, they are stuck and they can't ever opt-out again. However, if they do opt-out, down the road when they realize what they are missing out on they can opt back in for recreational dispensaries and recreational consumption sites.

So, towns like Colonie are playing it safe with the option to opt-in at a later date. If they do opt-out they also miss out on the tax revenue that the cannabis industry brings in. No matter which way New York towns decide to vote recreational cannabis products are legal to possess and consume for New Yorkers over the age of 21.

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