Cannabis sales are a pot of gold for LI

Daily Point

Babylon marijuana dispensaries generate $100 million in sales

With just a few cannabis dispensaries open across Long Island in just one town, it might appear that the region has been a bit slow to embrace the legalization of marijuana.

The numbers tell a very different story.

According to the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, 558,000 individual Long Island residents purchased cannabis products from the Island’s three state-approved dispensaries in September. Gordon Tepper, spokesman for Gov. Kathy Hochul, confirmed the stunning statistic, noting that over the past year, a total of 707,000 unique Long Island residents legally purchased cannabis products from these stores — all of which are located in East Farmingdale in the Town of Babylon.

Dispensaries are required to scan identifications of all customers, which provides the data the state is collecting.

"When you see these numbers, it’s mind-boggling that municipalities would opt out," Tepper told The Point. "The statistics speak for themselves. Business is booming and it would make sense for local governments to get in on the ground floor."

The Town of Babylon is the first Long Island municipality to receive any revenue from recreational dispensaries. In August, Newsday reported that the town had collected $1.16 million in tax revenue from cannabis sales from the first nine months of sales. Town officials are planning to use the funds to build a new drug and alcohol treatment center, which will also include job placement services, in North Amityville.

But Tepper noted that the total marijuana revenue is even higher. According to more recent state data, Long Island has generated $100 million in cannabis sales since the first dispensary opened in July 2023. That, in turn, has generated $4 million in tax revenue. A portion of that revenue goes to the state, while additional revenue goes to the county and the local municipality.

Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer told the Point Tuesday that the town was earmarking current and future cannabis revenue to education, recovery and public safety efforts.

"Not only are they doing well economically, but more importantly, they have really adhered to how we envisioned they’d be open," Schaffer said. "I wasn’t a supporter of this originally ... but now that it’s here in Babylon, I’m very pleased with the professionalism of the operators of the three facilities ... I can’t say anything negative about how they’ve performed."

Schaffer said vehicle traffic has not been a concern at any of the open facilities, adding that there are at least five additional dispensaries in the process of getting approvals or getting ready to open in Babylon.

Schaffer noted that he shared his experience with other Suffolk County town supervisors at a recent meeting. Brookhaven, Riverhead and Southampton have opted into sales but none of those towns have any cannabis stores open yet. And Schaffer said he particularly addressed his assessment to Islip, Smithtown and Huntington officials.

"I don’t know whether I changed anyone’s minds, but I told them of my initial fears and what’s happened since," Schaffer said. "Now I’ve given them the experience we’ve had and that’s always the best way to judge something."

Even Schaffer, however, said he was surprised by the sheer number of cannabis users on Long Island.

"When we saw the revenue numbers, we knew there were a lot of people utilizing it, but I didn’t realize it was over half a million individual users," Schaffer said. "If I look back now, I would say yes, I’m very happy because of what we’re able to do with that revenue."

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Eat your words

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Final Point

Chairwoman Solages?

Michaelle Solages — now in her sixth term and almost guaranteed another — has been on a leadership path within the Assembly, most recently serving as deputy majority leader and as elected chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. Her name even emerged over the summer as what Politico called "an obvious bet" for someone who could succeed Speaker Carl Heastie.

But Solages told The Point she wants to take a different route to leadership if she’s reelected this fall.

"I’m looking at other positions," Solages said. "I do want to become a chair. I want to be able to have a pulse on legislation and policy and I want to do more."

Solages said she has discussed her desire to take on a committee chairmanship with Heastie, although she wouldn’t specify which committees she has in mind, saying only that she’s been looking at "several open chairs" and noting that about 20 chairmanships will be vacated.

"There’s opportunity in many different realms," she said.

Solages noted that if reelected, she’ll be "Number 20 in the pipeline" when it comes to seniority, so it’s unlikely she’d get a top spot like Ways and Means. While becoming a committee chair would remove her from the leadership track, Solages noted that she could always return — and that a chair position would allow her to do more for Long Island.

"I’m realistic about what I can get," Solages said. "It’s a point of influence. Especially for Long Island, we need as many chairmanships as possible. It’s just an opportunity for us to have conversations."

Solages continues to focus on the key issues she has spotlighted for years, such as education and health care, but she noted that she’s also ramping up on other topics, including studying Long Island’s energy needs and costs.

Solages said she was "humbled" by talk of her rising to the speakership but said she’s "not seeking anything."

"I’m just here doing the work for people and making sure that Long Island has a seat at the table," Solages said.

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com

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