Ironic? Amsterdam Rethinks Restricting Marijuana Business

Oh, the irony!

The Town of Amsterdam was one of the first places in New York to publically say they didn't want any marijuana dispensaries in their town. Obviously, Amsterdam in the Netherlands is well known as a drug user paradise (if you can call it that) and their pot "coffee shops" are legendary. I guess The Town of Amsterdam, NY was worried they would become their namesake from across the pond.

However, just as fast as they said no, they changed their stance to maybe. According to WNYT, their stance has changed and it probably has to do with the fact that cities that opt-out of marijuana dispensaries and on-site consumption businesses would not be able to get any of the tax money from legal recreational marijuana sales.

Oops!

Not wanting to miss out on all those tax dollars, the Town of Amsterdam is now limiting those marijuana businesses to areas that are zoned B1 and B2 business areas and any growing operations to areas zoned agriculture.

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In Saratoga, talks are underway trying to figure out zoning and areas where they will allow marijuana businesses in their town. Dispensaries typically are high (no pun intended) traffic businesses that can cause a lot of traffic congestion and parking issues and that is something the city doesn't want...especially on Broadway which can basically be a parking lot especially on the weekend.

I'm sure other cities will look to Amsterdam and Saratoga to see how they handle the new law legalizing recreational marijuana in New York.