Dear Pine Plains 7.30.21
| 7.30.2021
Dear Pine Plains, It’s time to talk about the new Marijuana Law. We are being pressured by the Governor to make a decision quickly on what we want to allow to happen in Town as regards sales and use. So I will try to simplify it as best I can. In a nutshell, the Town has to make a decision as to whether or not to allow marijuana to be a) consumed in specifically licensed places (the way bars do alcohol); and b) sold in a dispensary, which would be regulated exactly like our liquor store. Our zoning would regulate where and what hours these entities would be open. Sales tax collected on marijuana will be regulated at about 9% with 4% given back to the Town. The Town Board would like your input on this subject. At the very least, for now please write to me at supervisor@pineplains-ny.gov and give me your two cents. I will collect the emails and pass them along. There is a power-point prepared by the Association of Towns attached at the bottom of this letter to further explain the new law and its requirements. Please stay tuned for further news on this. On September 11th, the Stanford Fire Company will present a 20-year Memorial Tribute to the victims of 9/11/2001. Every day the new Town Park gets better and better. Sue Robertson and her crew are doing a fantastic job with the guidance of an equally fantastic Town Beautification Committee. It looks like the fountain being designed and built by Tim Jones will be installed sometime next week. We lost two more really important citizens of Pine Plains in the last two weeks—Rick Jackson and Antonina Mirto. Both they and their families have made huge contributions to the Town and we mourn their passing. Preserving their history feels particularly important to the future of the Town right now. Don’t forget to attend the last scoping meeting for the Hudson Valley Project which takes place tomorrow, Saturday the 31st, at the high school. You can arrive at 9am to view maps and ask questions of the planners for the project. You are invited to ask for impacts to be studied for the DEIS. The meeting starts at 10am. We are back to CDC Guidelines at Town Hall. If you are unvaccinated, please wear a mask here. If you are vaccinated and worried, wear a mask. Be careful out there! We want everything to remain open and with your help, we can do this. Sunday begins International Clown Week! Wear your red noses over your masks and proudly, Pine Plains! Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act Different types of licenses and how they interact with towns Personal cultivation
AOT MRT OverallLegislates three different categories of products
Hemp / Cannabinoid Hemp (aka CBD)’ Significant changes to the Penal Code The Basics (Colloquially)THC — the stuff that gets you high (technically a compound found in a cannabis plant) Cannabis — Cannabis plant with THC level above.03 (technically 3 different types of cannabis plants) Control BoardCannabis Control Board (CCB) Gov; 1 by Senate president; 1 by Assembly Speaker Duties include Office of Cannabis ManagementOffice of Cannabis Management (OCM) established within Division of Alcohol Beverage Control (CL 8) Executive Director appointed by CCB (CL 9)
Full list on CL 11
State Cannabis Advisory Board 14) 13-member board: gov has 7 appointments, senate leader -3, assembly leader — 3
Medical CannabisPatients can be certified by a practitioner that patient has a condition would benefit from medical cannabis 30) Conditions defined — includes cancer, MS,Parkinson’s, PTSD, and “any other condition certified by a practitioner” (CL 3[18]) Medical CannabisMedical cannabis distributed by “registered organizations” (CL 34) Difference between medical cannabis and adult use cannabis? Nothing from a chemical standpoint Patient can grow more plants at home Adult Use CannabisMultiple different types of adult use licenses Distributor Retail DispensaryDelivery
Retail Dispensary & On Site Consumption — Local Opt Out
AOT Retail Dispensary & On Site Consumption — Local RegulationsTown can adopt local laws placing restrictions on time/place/manner of retail dispensaries and on-site consumption establishments Retail Dispensary & On Site ConsumptionNotice continued… / 22 Retail Dispensary & On Site ConsumptionCannot be within 500 feet of school or 200 feet house of worship (CL 7616]; 77[3]) Notice to municipalities 76) Between 270 and 30 days before applying for a license, retail or on-site applicant has to notify municipality of intention to file Taxing Cannabis
Some taxes based on total amount of THC in a product that a distributor sells to a retail establishment (see e.g. Tax Law 493 [a]
15Taxing Cannabis
‘ Tax and Finance collects tax, distributes to comptroller, comptroller distributes to counties, counties distribute to towns/cities/villages (Tax Law 25 0 0 of funds stay with county; 75 0 0 remaining distributed to towns, cities, and villages in proportion to sales from retail dispensaries with jurisdiction Taxing Cannabis
If a town and village both allow retail sales within jurisdiction and the dispensary is in the village then the money will be distributed in accordance with an agreement between the town and village Default is 50/50 split if no agreement Personal Cultivation and Possession21 and older can have 30z of cannabis or up to Individual can grow 3 mature plants and 3 immature plants Cannot have more than 12 plants per property Town can enact laws to “reasonably regulate the actions and conduct of [personal cultivation] ” Violation of local law cannot exceed $200 civil penalty Cannot prohibit personal cultivation Smoking prohibited in certain areas in accordance with Public Health Law Article 13-e
Town can prohibit smoking overall in space like town park or town buildings What about hemp? Social Equity ProgramsSocial equity program will be put together by
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