Governor Kathy Hochul says it’s an effort to ensure that the early business owners will be from communities most impacted by the nation’s war on drugs.

While marijuana advocates are pleased with the move and feel it will improve social equity, others have safety concerns.

Mike Golden and Byron Cage, both members of the New York Cannabis growers and processors association, are one step closer to a long-time goal of theirs.

“Together, we’re working to open a consumption lounge,” said Cage. “It would be music, a venue, consumption on site, like a sports bar but no alcohol, just cannabis products.”

Golden, who has been arrested multiple times on weed-related charges, could be among the first to get a license.

“I applaud the state on what they’re trying to do,” said Golden. “Ensure that the people most affected by the war on drugs have a place or some sort of a segway into a legal market.”

For golden and cage, opening a marijuana bar isn’t their only objective. It’s also about decriminalizing weed, and removing the negative stereotypes that have been tied to the drug for decades.

“We as minorities have been over-sitgmatized and arrested at a 4:1 ratio for marijuana charges,” said Golden.

Others, like Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol, disagree with the priority system.

“Why are we giving preference to someone who has been convicted of something?” said Maciol. “I get it, it’s marijuana, but those convictions came about during a time when marijuana was illegal to possess.”

He has safety concerns about legalized marijuana—among them—car accidents involving THC.

“We do not have any roadside technology for law enforcement to detect the level of THC in a person’s body,” said Maciol.