Cannabis dispensary near NYC Catholic elementary school draws outrage
Dozens of enraged protesters rallied in Queens Tuesday to nip in the bud a dispensary’s hopes of putting down roots just one block from a Catholic elementary school.
The crowd of 40 concerned locals paraded outside the not-yet-opened Canna Buddha on 215th Street and 39th Avenue in Bayside, saying the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) should never have allowed a permit for a cannabis shop.
“No one likes it. The whole neighborhood is opposed to it. Kids walk home from school — I don’t want them to have that influence,” Paul DiBenedetto, chair of Queens Community Board 11, told The Post.
CB 11’s licensing committee, which only serves in an advisory capacity, unanimously rejected Canna Budda Corp’s application in December — but the OCM moved forward with permit approval.
Canna Buddha Corp — which has two locations in New Mexico — is still awaiting a Department of Buildings inspection. A stop work order by the agency was posted on the shop’s door, but the owner expects to open within the next two weeks.
“We have done everything the state allowed us, the right thing by the community board as well as the neighborhood,” owner Abdul Hamid told The Post.
But neighbors claim the shop’s mere 520-foot distance from Sacred Heart Catholic Academy and its church is too close for comfort — even though it abides by the minimum 500-foot distance from schools.
The church was even one of the protest’s main organizers, saying the distance flies in the face of 1,000-foot Drug-Free School Zone laws for public schools.
“We do not want our students and families exposed to this new drug culture near our school,” John Quaglione of the Diocese of Brooklyn said.
Other protesters shared the same sentiment, claiming that Canna Buddha would have made more sense along Bell Boulevard, the popular commercial strip just a quarter-mile west.
“I think people aren’t distinguishing between what’s legal and what’s appropriate,” Bayside resident Tim Vance told The Post.
Queens Republican Club member Arthur Ruggiero theorized the presence of cannabis could impact children’s health.
“Marijuana lowers testosterone. It raises estrogen. It impairs your memory. It makes you more violent. It robs you of ambition — you don’t want to go out and work hard. That’s the worst thing to do to school kids — this is a very residential neighborhood.”
Tom Zmich, a one-time state Republican congressional candidate, pointed out that there is already another cannabis shop in the neighborhood — and several illegal smoke shops.
“The kids walking to school back and forth, it’s only a matter of time. Just like you see around the rest of the city — something will happen here,” Zmich fumed.
Several protesters emphasized that they weren’t opposed to cannabis shops in general, and pointed out that the community board had approved other applications in the past.
But Carson Grant, owner of NY Elite Cannabis on Bell Blvd, said he received considerable “pushback” when he first opened his dispensary — with hateful neighbors alleging he was a “f–king criminal.”
“Marijuana, unfortunately, is still stigmatized. I don’t understand it myself. I personally think all this backlash and everything should be towards liquor. Because liquor is the devil. Liquor kills people. Liquor causes all these health problems,” Grant, 47, told The Post, calling the protesters’ grievances against Canna Buddha “absurd.”
Hamid echoed Grant’s statements, questioning how a dispensary would be any different than the multitude of bars that can be found scattered throughout Bayside.
The idea that children would be affected by his shop in any capacity is nonsensical, he claimed.
“Children can’t really come in in a dispensary. Maybe in a liquor store, they can walk in and can’t purchase, but in a dispensary, they can’t even get past the front door … We check their IDs the moment they walk in the door. I don’t see that’s a big concern. It’s like having a bar in the neighborhood,” Hamid said.
