New York liquor store owners vying for piece of marijuana pie

In this 2014 file photo, a dispensary in Northeast Portland is the former site of one of the first post-prohibition liquor stores in Portland. (Oregonian/Beth Nakamura) (Beth Nakamura)

By Kyle Lawson

A bottle of red. A baggie of weed.

As lawmakers in Albany draft a bill to legalize adult use of marijuana, a coalition of wine and liquor store owners is campaigning for the right to stock their shelves with the product.

Organizers of The Last Store on Main Street (LSMS), which recently fought to keep wine out of grocery stores, said the effort is motivated in part by the fear of losing business.

A joint study conducted in part by researchers from the University of Connecticut and Georgia State University concluded a reduction in the nation’s overall alcohol consumption, from 2006 to 2015, was related directly to increased availability of medical marijuana.

“We have employees, and if sales go down we’d have to let people go,” said John Ha, owner of City Wine Cellar in New Springville, and a member of the coalition.

In other U.S. states where adult use is legal, medical marijuana dispensaries increased inventory to accommodate recreational customers, while new retail spaces opened. In New York City, a company called MedMen opened its first medical marijuana dispensary in Manhattan, in preparation of a booming recreational market.

“The question going forward will be, who will get the right to sell the stuff?” said LSMS spokesman Austin Finan. “Bringing sales into wine and liquor stores would not only expedite revenue generation and keep costs low, it would eliminate a real threat to thousands of small businesses.”

Ha added the addition of marijuana to his inventory would make sense from a legal standpoint.

“We already have to follow rules and regulations, so marijuana is a natural fit,” he said. 

Canada this month became the second nation, behind Uruguay, to legalize adult use of marijuana. New Jersey is meanwhile inching closer to approving a bill, following close behind Massachusetts, Vermont and seven other U.S. states where adult use is legal.

State lawmakers last week heard proposals to legalize at a joint-committee hearing in Manhattan, following a series of listening sessions across the state. A bill is expected to be presented to the legislature during the upcoming session.