Legalized marijuana will take time
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to legalize and regulate adult marijuana use will predictably lead to a confrontation with the state Legislature. In his State of the State and budget addresses, Cuomo vowed this would be the year the state would pass the legislation.
“For decades, communities of color were disproportionately affected by the unequal enforcement of marijuana laws,” Cuomo said. “Last year, we righted that injustice when we decriminalized possession. This year ... let’s legalize adult use of marijuana.”
The governor’s legislation, if it passes, aims to end the twilight-zone years of marijuana use in New York state. Legislators last year couldn’t agree on how to regulate entrepreneurial licenses and where the revenue from the new industry should go, which many advocates argued should be reinvested into communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted by the criminalization of marijuana. Another stumbling block was the legalization versus decriminalization debate, which wasted time in a short legislative session.
The advantages of Cuomo’s refashioned legislation is its comprehensive nature and stance for local control over how marijuana is sold and used. The 200-page bill in his $178.6 billion budget proposal to legalize the use of marijuana for adults 21 and older includes initiatives to direct funds to invest in communities of color and provide them with steady footing to enter the new industry as entrepreneurs — specifics that were excluded from last year’s iteration. There is also a matter of money. Cuomo’s office estimates that marijuana legalization will bring in $300 million by 2025, with a revenue stream rolling within 18 months.
Various proposals that amend or modify the principles of the legislation will have to be worked out by the statehouse and the Legislature. A social, political and legal upheaval like this won’t come without a struggle. A vast majority of New Yorkers, according to some polls, are in favor of some kind of marijuana legalization. It is time to end this 21st-century model of Prohibition. It will not be easy, but it can be done.
