Middletown’s City Council passed a zoning law amendment on May 16 to ban cannabis sales on any property within the city boundary.
Violators are punishable by fines between $250 and $2,000 or jail time of up to 15 days.
City Council President Miguel Rodrigues told The Epoch Times that the amendment allows the city to regulate cannabis activities as state-level enforcement remains elusive.
Middletown had opted out of the state law allowing for cannabis stores in July 2021; however, that didn’t deter illegal cannabis products from popping up at local shops, some wrapped up in candy-like packages to appeal to young people, according to Rodrigues.
Once, his teenage son saw a store attendant selling cannabis products over the counter at a gas station on Mohagen Avenue. Rodrigues called the police, but they couldn’t do much about it.
“So what we are going to do is that now if you have a business in Middletown, and you decide that you don’t care [and sell cannabis], we can revoke your business license,” he said.
Police Chief John Ewanciw told The Epoch Times that the only enforcement tool the department has at the state level is to file a report with the cannabis control board, but it often has no immediate result.
Out of a handful of reports filed by the department about unlicensed cannabis sales in the city, no responses have been heard, except for a brief note acknowledging the receipt, he said.
Ewanciw said he also discussed with the county district attorney’s office on illegal cannabis sale enforcement but found out the penal code wouldn’t kick in unless for cases of large quantities.
“[The zoning amendment] will give us the ability to address this more on a local level,” he said.
Alex Smith, the city’s corporation counsel who helped draft the amendment, told The Epoch Times that police and code enforcement officers will work together to enforce the new code.
New York legalized recreational marijuana in March 2021 by passing the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The law allows adults 21 years and older to buy recreational cannabis from authorized dealers and carry up to three ounces of cannabis or 24 grams of cannabis concentrate.
However, rules and regulations governing the new industry are late in coming, according to Councilman Paul Johnson, also chairperson of the legislative committee.
“What has happened in the interim is that some people think that ‘Oh, it is a green light,’ and we have a whole array of products that have come into the marketplace within the city limits of Middletown that are not necessarily appropriate, especially products that are targeted toward younger people,” he said.
He said the amendment is in the best interest of the city residents, given the elusive state regulations.
Councilman Gerald Kleiner said the city could revisit the code when conditions change in the future.
