If or when recreational marijuana becomes legal in New York, a statewide wine and liquor store group believes it knows the perfect outlets for legitimate weed sales:

Wine and liquor stores.

Last Store on Main Street, the same coalition that helped defeat a proposal to legalize wine sales in grocery stores a few years ago, announced its new campaign today. It wants the state to allow liquor stores to deal in legal weed.

This effort is “designed to save mom-and-pop stores from going under once recreational marijuana becomes available in New York,” according to a coalition news release.

New York state is currently considering the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. A state Health Department-led study earlier this year, commissioned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, concluded the positives of legalization outweigh the negatives. State officials this week finished up a statewide series of hearings on the issue.

A proposal could come before the State Legislature in its 2019 session.

“We’re just beginning the process of accessing the ideas and feedback we received during the series of sessions we held across the state and we intend to advance a formal proposal early next year,” said Tyrone Stevens, a spokesman for Cuomo. [Read more at New York Upstate]