None of the Island’s five medical marijuana dispensers appear to meet local policies and regulations that would allow them to serve recreational consumers, town officials said.
State regulators are weighing standards for the recreational cannabis sector that would allow each medical marijuana firm to “co-locate” — or incorporate recreational sales — at one dispensary in late December. These hybrid facilities would still need to meet local rules for recreational dispensaries, and on Long Island, none of the five medical dispensaries listed on the state Office of the Cannabis Management’s website appear to do so.
Three of the medical marijuana facilities — Sunnyside in Huntington Station, MedMen Inc. in Lake Success and Curaleaf in Carle Place — are in towns that opted not to allow recreational pot shops and lounges, town officials confirmed. The Botanist’s medical dispensary in East Farmingdale isn’t located in an industrial zone, as required for recreational shops, according to Ryan Bonner, a spokesman for the town. Columbia Care’s medical facility in Riverhead appears closer to housing than is permitted for shops that sell to consumers without a prescription, Town Attorney Erik Howard said.
With the “unregulated market rapidly increasing its presence” in New York, Curaleaf would hope Long Island would want to