Pleasantville holds meeting on opting out of retail sale of marijuana, on-site consumption lounges

A meeting was held in Pleasantville Monday night regarding preventing the retail sale of marijuana and on-site consumption lounges in the village.
Marijuana possession in New York is legal for people over 21 but permitting retail sales and on-site consumption lounges within the Village of Pleasantville is a village decision.
Municipalities can opt out of local retail sales and consumption lounges if it occurs by Dec. 31, 2021.
A municipality can opt back into sales at any time.
Once a municipality opts in, it can never opt out again.
Opting in does not require action, but all municipalities are opted in automatically unless they opt out.
While the opinion of the Pleasantville Village Board was unclear Monday night, that of their constituents is not.
Most are asking the board to opt out of the retail sale of weed for now until New York sheds light on how it will be regulated.
The village police chief also cautioned people not to compare marijuana to alcohol.
"When it comes to marijuana, we still don't have reliable tests that will measure the amount of intoxicant in a person's blood," said Pleasantville Police Department Chief Erik Grutzner.
The board says they hope to make a decision by the end of October.