Cannabis Chaos

Last fall, at an Express Sessions event, then-State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. compared New York State’s rollout of its cannabis laws to the rollout of the Titanic — unfavorably. Today, if possible, it looks even worse.

Not every municipality in the state is feeling the fallout — and, in fact, Southampton Town is alone on the South Fork. That’s because former Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman successfully lobbied his Town Board colleagues to opt in and allow cannabis dispensaries to open in the town, seduced by the $1 million to $2 million in annual tax revenue he expected once the shops got up and running.

Today, the ledger has only red ink: Cannabis so far is going to end up costing the town a pretty penny in legal fees. That’s not really the town’s fault — the state has made a mess of things.

Last week, one cannabis shop owner announced plans to sue the town over the process for approving his retail shop, seeking lost revenue because of the delays. Another shop owner simply announced plans to open without town permits, thinking they are unnecessary. The town is going to need to fight those battles in court, and the state is doing little more than creating confusion that will allow such lawsuits to gain traction, at least for a time.

Every other official from municipalities on South Fork — East Hampton Town in particular — likely is looking at Southampton Town with derision. Poor Maria Moore, the current supervisor, was on the other side of the issue as mayor in Westhampton Beach Village, which opted out, and is stuck holding the proverbial bag.

From the start, the state spoke as if cannabis sales were just another product, and it was simply a matter of setting up a framework. But the rush to get the shops up and running, and sending checks to Albany, left a lot of details unresolved. Local municipalities — again, just Southampton Town in this instance — are left with a mangled mess of shifting rules from the State Office of Cannabis Management. And, in fact, in a development that might have been anticipated, some of those looking to go into this particular business are not all that eager to be slowed down by legalities.

The state, meanwhile, cannot get its story straight, and it seems eager to give the new businesses plenty of leeway. Limits on locations were in place from the beginning, but there was never clear guidance on how to interpret them. Now the state seems to be suggesting shops that already opened in violation of an earlier interpretation of the law might be able to stay open. That’s a dangerous precedent.

Now, at least one cannabis entrepreneur is waving a hand at the town’s role altogether, suggesting it has no right to set any rules at all, which is a clear misread of what the state intended. But will the state step in? And if so, whose side will they be on? It’s a gamble the entrepreneur is willing to take, which is telling.

The multitude of dispensaries on Shinnecock Territory shows that there is a business model that can bring economic development through cannabis, without an avalanche of social devastation. But Southampton Town has to partner with the state — and that’s proving to be the worst partnership imaginable to get a workable, enforceable plan in place.