Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has opined that states allowing liquor stores to operate as essential businesses during the coronavirus pandemic should let marijuana shops do the same.
“I’d say that if your state is deeming liquor stores to be an essential business, it doesn’t seem consistent as to why a liquor store would be essential but a dispensary wouldn’t,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, said Tuesday. “You’ve got to make a decision one way or another.”
The congresswoman offered her input on Instagram as countless businesses across the country are forced to close under restrictions prompted by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Most states have issued stay-at-home orders, instructing residents not to go outdoors unless absolutely necessary and temporarily shuttering establishments considered nonessential, effectively subjecting the vast majority of Americans to sweeping travel and business restrictions unprecedented in modern history.
States that have passed laws allowing licensed marijuana dispensaries to operate have accordingly found themselves deciding whether or not pot shops should be considered essential.
Most states where adults can normally purchase marijuana for recreational purposes have deemed retail dispensaries to be essential businesses and allowing them to cater to customers during the pandemic.
Democratic Gov. Charlie Baker recently placed Massachusetts in the minority, meanwhile, shuttering the commonwealth’s recreational marijuana retailers but allowing medical marijuana dispensaries to stay open.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s home state of New York is not currently counted among the nine where adults can legally purchase recreational marijuana from licensed dispensaries.
It has legalized the sale of medical marijuana, however, and the New York state health department recently clarified that medical cannabis businesses are considered essential.
Liquor stores within New York state are currently considered essential as well.
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