The village of Massena has filed lawsuits against two ‘pot shops’ operating in the village, in an effort to shut them down.
“Famous A’s” and “THC Remedies” are accused of violating village codes, and THX Remedies is also accused of violating the village’s zoning laws. The lawsuits are filed in state Supreme Court in Canton.
“We want all businesses in Massena, but the only thing that we ask is you follow our code and you follow our zoning requirements. We are responsible to providing police, fire, rescue – we plow roads, we maintain roads. I don’t think it’s much to ask that they follow the village codes,” Massena mayor Greg Paquin told 7 News.
According to village officials, neither business has a license to operate from the state Office of Cannabis Management and neither business approached the local planning board to operate in the village, so both businesses violate local law.
Both stores are owned by residents of the St. Regis Mohawk Nation, who run other cannabis shops as well. In Massena, the shops are on village streets, Center and Beach streets, and are also within an area called the ‘Massena Mile,’ involved in a land claim dispute between Mohawk officials who say it’s Akwesasne territory and the United States.
“That land claim has no bearing on our thought process. As long as the courts tell us that this is the village of Massena, all businesses need to follow planning and code and zoning and until a court tells us different, everyone’s going to held to that same standard – regardless of any claims,” said St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary Pasqua.
In June 2023, both shops were part of a countywide raid by local police and St. Lawrence County Sheriffs, and arrests were made for possession of cannabis.
“We got a lot of complaints from the community that those shops – not only they were in business, but they were selling to minors and that there were products being sold outside of just marijuana,” Pasqua said.
Source https://www.wwnytv.com/2024/02/13/massena-goes-court-close-two-pot-shops/
