Despite dope-pushing U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer’s repeated claims that “90% of Americans want legal marijuana,” over 700 of New York State’s 1,521 municipalities opted out of hosting marijuana dispensaries and over 800 municipalities opted out of allowing consumption on site, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s “Opt Out Tracker..” This is all the more significant because the opt-in was automatic, so each municipality had to explicitly make known to Albany that it wanted out.
If this had been more widely publicized, probably hundreds more would have opted out, as in neighboring New Jersey where over 70% of municipalities opted out of marijuana dispensaries after NJ Governor Phil Murphy, unable to get legal weed through the state legislature, placed it on the back side of the ballot, where many voters didn’t see it, in order to pass it into law.
The City of Schenectady went back and forth before ultimately opting in, with three of the five council members claiming that they’re worried about missing out on revenue. The Chief of Police had held a closed-door session with the City Council, after which they had voted to opt out, only to be pressured by the pro-drug mayor and unknown others to opt back in.
