New York liquor store owners vying for piece of marijuana pie

New York lawmakers are currently working on drafting a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana in the state and some liquor companies are making their voices heard in hopes of gaining the right to sell the plant as well. They note the decline in alcohol sales over the last 10 years due to legalizing medical marijuana and they also recently argued to stop grocery stores from selling wine. The regulation that is present in the alcohol industry is a primary reason they say it would be easy to integrate heavily regulated marijuana sales into their stores. While some continue debating if recreational cannabis should be legal or not many others have already accepted the inevitable transition and are looking forward on how to take advantage of the opportunity. 

“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.”