The Effects of Marijuana Dispensaries in Astoria (11102)
Natali Rivera
INTRODUCTION
As of recently, Astoria went from being a small area with townhouses and small apartment buildings to the new mini Manhattan across the water. It’s modernized so much in past couple of years. Many of you may have heard the saying with progression comes change. One of these changes was the legalization of medical marijuana in 2016, and as of recently recreational cannabis in 2021. With this shops opened on every corner, everyone wanted to jump at the opportunity and soon enough Astoria became over populated with them. Two stores on every block in Steinway Street. At first it was like “Great there’s a store in the area!” But then soon after there too many it felt you couldn’t escape from them. To each their own but at a certain point these dispensaries are bound to have an impact on local businesses. How do we know? What does the neighborhood think about them? Whats going to happen now? In order to get a couple of responses and views, I conducted an investigation.
A couple of ways I gathered information were the following:
- Interviews
- Surveys
- Visiting locals
INTERVIEWS
For the interviews I sat down with the owners or workers in charge of the local establishments to see what they thought about the local marijuana carriers and asked them the following questions:
- Do you feel Marijuana serving locations will take a toll on your business?
- How do you think these stores will impact you in the future?
- Are you in favor or against the legalization of medicinal and recreational cannabis?
- Has your business gained or lost clientele since the opening of shops?
These were their responses…
Local No. 1
The first place we visited was Hispanic owned and just starting. A little restaurant who’s just adapting to their area. We were able to interview them briefly.
The owner explained that he felt the locals wouldn’t really affect his business but he also wasn’t much interested in the shops. He continued by saying that he didn’t think it would affect his restaurant for the mere fact that they are two completely different businesses and shouldn’t affect one another. The owner said they weren’t against or with the legalization, it wasn’t of their concern. Lastly, his business is doing really good so far with the opening and excited for a new place to eat at!
Local No. 2
The second place I visited was a personal favorite of mine. The local bagel shop my dad works at. The owner is a nice man and very well liked by his workers and people in the neighborhood. We proceeded to ask the same questions and these were his responses.
He proceeded to tell me about how he doesn’t feel it’ll take a toll on his business because everyone likes and needs food and they carry all sorts of products, theres sure to be something or everyone. He goes on to explain how he feels that it won’t impact his business just because there’s all sorts of people who want something and enjoy stopping by for a while or order so theres no way the business will die out. He also isn’t in favor or against legalization because its “not his cup of tea” and lastly he said little by little his business has gone back up after COVID.
Local NO. 3
Lastly I decided to ask at my job. My manager answered the questions I had. We work at a chocolate fruit shop selling sweets! We’re not well known in the area but we do get busy here and there but shine during the holidays! Once again we asked the same questions and these were the responses.
She proceeded to say the locals haven’t been taking a toll on us just because were next door so when people see us they get curious and come in or end up ordering later on. She proceeded to say it wouldn’t have much impact only that people might confuse us with the shops because of our name. She doesn’t mind the legalization but she is mostly in favor of it. In the end she believes we’ve gained more but for the same reasons as the previous owner, because of COVID regulations lifting and more on.
SURVEY
I’ve always felt that the community is the one who ultimately has a say in which businesses stay and strive and which aren’t so great or beneficial. So I decided to ask the residents of the area to see what their thoughts and opinions are. Therefore, I asked them the following questions:
- Do you think the shops will have a negative affect on the community?
- Are you looking forward to the change the community will go through with the legalization?
- Do you like your local shops?
The few individuals that made time to speak with me and voice their opinions had quite the amount of mixed responses. I heard a few who cares, a couple of arguments in regards to the questions, and a few yes’s and no’s. It mostly depended on the age group of each person who was asked. Most elderly people are against the legalization of marijuana for the mere fact that it’s not good for the kids these days and the smell bothers them. Young adults and teens are in favor of it because they think they’ll be able to smoke it out in public and by it from wherever they please. Adults were in between. If you asked parents they were against it because it was being exposed to their children and some parents who had older kids said they respected it. Other adults were pretty excited about it and were hoping to get their hands on some soon.
In regards to the shops everyone hear the same idea, there’s way too many. In the end only the stores with more clientele and better recognition will stand. Many are leaning towards ZAZA and Members Only, which have been advertising all over Astoria and have VIP lounges to hotbox all day. Customers enjoy meeting people at these lounges and having comforts they wouldn’t at other locations. Many of those we spoke to said they enjoy going out for a quick smoke and catch a nice dinner afterwards. They still enjoy showing their local businesses love and support even with the new shops coming in, but do the small businesses know this or do they see the shops as a threat?
VISITING LOCALS
Lastly I decided to visit these local restaurants for ourselves and see how they impact the community. As everyone may know, we each have our own cup of tea. Whether you smoke or not it impacts us all. So to see what most people in the area we visited the local businesses. We saw different ages and races everywhere!
In the bagel shop I saw teenagers and young adults studying, adults buying coffee and grabbing lunch. Elderly people laughing in the tables as calm as can be. The workers smiling as they addressed customers who walked in by their names.
In the restaurant people walked in, dollar already in hand to buy a small hot coffee, people in their booths ready to order. Mostly families on a weekend outing or a couple on a date. A busy rowdy place.
In the fruit shop its as quiet as can be, but on holidays it’s as hectic as can be. Full of different people who come in to help get it moving. The printer printing paper in bunches and phones ringing like there’s no tomorrow. But after that it’s so calm, people walking by to see the small red store.
I tried to enter a smoke shop but they asked for ID and when they saw I wasn’t over 21 they denied me entrance. So I was unable to get their perspective, but that’s okay!
CONCLUSION
Overall, the legalization of marijuana hasn’t had much effect on our local shops as of now that they’re just now opening, the only thing people are complaining about are the smell of the smoke but besides that it has been a very good addition to the community as a whole. People are able to medicate widely. Although, theres people who use it for non medical reasons and don’t respect the space of others, there hasn’t been any negative affects. As a community, smoke shops are welcomed to help those who need them and have provided jobs for many people who need them. Locations will continue to open and hopefully they don’t overpopulate the area and impact in a negative way.
Marijuana isn’t just smoked for fun or to look cool, its main purpose for legalization was medicinal use. People seem to forget that but as you can see the number of patients who use the substance grows consecutively as we speak.
In the chart on top you will see that shows how much cannabis has been purchased in the last couple of years and an estimate of how much more it’ll continue to sell. It’s here to stay and will continue to impact communities. It’s been very popular since 2019 but with its legalization sales with definitely be coming in.
