Why Islip is right to hit pause on legal marijuana dispensaries

The push to bring legal marijuana dispensaries to the Town of Islip continues, with advocates pointing to lost tax revenue and comparisons to neighboring towns like Babylon and Brookhaven. But amid the dollar signs, we should pause and ask: At what cost? Islip’s cautious approach isn’t backward — it’s responsible.

Marijuana is legal in New York. But legal doesn’t automatically mean it is right for every community. The town board’s decision to delay a vote on allowing dispensaries reflects the real concerns of residents who care deeply about public safety, exposing young people to recreational drug use, and neighborhood integrity.

Proponents often cite Babylon’s $2.6 million in cannabis tax revenue, calling it a win. But that’s barely 1.5% of their total budget. Is it really transformative? And there’s something troubling about positioning mind-altering substances as the solution to municipal shortfalls. What happens when projections don’t meet expectations — or when costs go up in other ways? Should the “potential” for increased revenue trump public safety and quality of life? I think not.

Legal cannabis comes with its own financial burdens: increased traffic enforcement, zoning regulation, business licensing infrastructure, inspections, and possibly a rise in substance abuse-related services. In other words: more costs, not just more revenue.

Supporters argue that regulated, licensed dispensaries are safer than illegal ones. That’s true — to a point. Once a municipality allows retail cannabis, it becomes exponentially harder to control unintended consequences, including a spike in impaired driving incidents and the strain on first responders.

Public safety threats are real. The Suffolk County Police Department has had to form a task force with participation from the town supervisors to deal with increased criminal activity around these shops. There is no such thing as a truly “contained” vice industry. We’ve seen this play out with liquor stores, vape shops and now cannabis. Once they’re in, they multiply.

Zoning can only do so much. You can restrict shops to industrial areas, but that doesn’t stop marketing, product visibility, or cultural normalization.

Children growing up in communities saturated with cannabis marketing are more likely to see drug use as low-risk — a perception that directly contradicts decades of public health messaging. THC potency has soared in recent years, and products are being packaged in ways that look indistinguishable from candy or snacks.

Those in favor of allowing pot sales argue that illegal pot shops already exist in the town. That’s an enforcement issue. The solution isn’t to legalize and normalize them, it’s to strengthen local codes, empower police, and shut them down.

Islip prides itself on being a community where families grow up, not just grow businesses. Once you allow retail cannabis, you change the identity of a town. Just look at parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn where once-charming neighborhoods now feel more like scented strip malls.

Legalization was never meant to be a mandate for retail expansion. The state allowed towns to opt out for a reason — local choice matters. And Islip made a choice, twice. That should count for something.

There’s nothing wrong with thoughtful delay. Islip has the chance to observe, gather data, and revisit this issue when the long-term effects are clearer. Rushing into dispensary approval just to chase short-term dollars is bad governance.

Legal marijuana might be here to stay in New York, but each town has a right — and a duty — to decide how, when, and “if” it wants to participate in that new economy.

Let Babylon be Babylon. Let Brookhaven be Brookhaven. Let Islip be Islip.

This guest essay reflects the views of Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter.