Long Beach residents are hoping to convince the city council to allow recreational marijuana sales after the city opted out of the state's program.

A meeting was held Tuesday where some homeowners argued that the financially struggling city is letting millions of dollars in tax revenue away.

"Getting cannabis is going to be incredibly easy so opting out is not keeping cannabis out of Long Beach," says Beryl Solomon Jackowitz. "It is simply keeping the revenue out of Long Beach."

According to New York state, 20 marijuana dispensaries will initially be licensed on Long Island. Only four municipalities on Long Island have opted in for the marijuana program and all are in Suffolk County.

Some came out to the meeting in hopes of keeping marijuana out of the city.

Judi Vining with the group Long Beach Aware says marijuana sales would actually cost the city more money in services like law enforcement and counseling.

"There's enough new research that's gone on that says in areas where there are marijuana stores the black market has increased tremendously," Vining says.

The city council did not respond to any of the speakers.

A Long Beach spokesperson told News 12 that they chose to opt out because the New York still has not seen all the guidelines for recreational marijuana sales.

An entrepreneur hoping to convince the city council to opt in is urging them to hold a public hearing on the topic to keep the dialogue going.