New York legalizes recreational marijuana

After years of blocked attempts, New York State legalized the use of recreational marijuana, adopting a robust program to reinvest millions of dollars in minority communities ravaged by the war on drugs that has lasted since decades.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the cannabis legislation on Wednesday, a day after the state legislature passed the bill after hours of debate among lawmakers in Albany.

With his signing, New York became the 15th state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, positioning itself to quickly become one of the largest legal cannabis markets in the country.

Previous attempts to legalize marijuana have been stymied by disagreements over how tax revenues from marijuana sales would be distributed. Democratic lawmakers, especially those who are not white, have insisted that much of the money be earmarked for communities where blacks and Latin Americans have been disproportionately arrested on marijuana charges; the governor wanted to keep more control over how the money was spent.

Lawmakers prevailed. Forty percent of tax revenue from pot sales will go to these communities, and those convicted of marijuana who are no longer criminalized will have their records automatically deleted. The law also aims to enable those who have already been convicted and those involved in the illicit cannabis market to participate in the new legal market.

“Unlike any other state in America, this legislation is intentional about fairness,” Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, the Democratic majority leader in the Assembly who sponsored the bill, said on the floor of the lower house. “Fairness is not a second thought, it is the first and it must be, because the people who have paid the price for this war on drugs have lost so much.”

Parts of the law came into effect immediately.

Individuals are now allowed to possess up to three ounces of recreational cannabis or 24 grams of concentrated forms of the drug, such as oils.

New Yorkers are allowed to smoke cannabis in public anywhere tobacco smoking is permitted, although localities and a new state agency could create regulations to more strictly control cannabis use in public. However, smoking cannabis is prohibited in schools, workplaces or inside a car.

More changes will come into effect in the coming months as officials create the regulatory framework that will govern all aspects of a brand new, highly regulated market.

People, for example, will eventually be able to have cannabis delivered to their homes, consume cannabis products at lounge-style “consumption sites” and grow up to six plants at home for personal use. Dispensaries will not open for more than a year and localities may refuse to allow such ventures.

The recreational market is expected to eventually generate $ 350 million in annual tax revenue and billions of dollars in annual sales. New businesses and thousands of new jobs are available for the cultivation, distribution and sale of the drug.

The new law was a significant victory for the medical cannabis industry, which has spent millions of dollars lobbying to make the state’s medical marijuana program less restrictive since Mr. Cuomo signed a law legalizing the drug. for medical purposes in 2014.

Some of the companies had entered the New York medical market in hopes of establishing a foothold in the state to eventually sell recreational cannabis. This bet has paid off: the state’s medical cannabis operators, capped at 10 companies, will be able to penetrate the more lucrative recreational market by paying one-off fees.

The companies, many of which are multi-state operators and have years of industry experience, will indeed have a head start and help revive the state’s leisure market.

The Democratic Party has made legalizing marijuana an annual priority since 2018 after it struggled against legislative control over Republicans, who blocked the bill after its first introduction in 2013.

The efforts collapsed every year, mostly due to disagreements with Mr. Cuomo, a fellow Democrat, even as neighboring states, including New Jersey, legalized the drugs.

This year, however, Mr Cuomo’s influence has waned as many members of his party called on him to step down following multiple allegations of sexual harassment. Lawmakers and lobbyists have been surprised at the number of concessions Mr Cuomo, little known for his easy compromises, has made in order to secure a political victory amid a worsening political crisis, pushing the bill forward. beyond the finish line.

“This is a historic day in New York, a day that rightes the wrongs of the past by ending harsh prison sentences, embraces an industry that will grow the Empire State’s economy and prioritize marginalized communities to may those who have suffered the most. be the first to reap the rewards, ”Cuomo said in a statement.

Republican lawmakers have opposed the legislation, echoing the safety and health concerns of parent-teacher associations and law enforcement groups, such as a potential influx of people driving under the influence of marijuana.

Some Republicans have said the new pot sales taxes and reduced penalties on illegal sales will backfire, keeping the price of legal cannabis high and allowing the illicit market to flourish.

“This deal legalizing marijuana is the result of closed-door discussions between the leaders of a political party and a governor embroiled in scandal,” said Rob Ortt, the Republican leader in the Senate. “The result of these partisan negotiations is deeply flawed law that will adversely affect the health and safety of New Yorkers.”

The state’s recreational cannabis program will be managed by two new government entities: the Cannabis Control Board, which will develop new regulations, and the Office of Cannabis Management, which will implement the regulations.

They will be responsible for creating and licensing companies seeking to enter any facet of the supply chain, from growing cannabis to processing the plant into edibles, concentrates and smoking products.

There will be licenses for distributors who would wholesale cannabis to retailers, including dispensaries where individuals can purchase cannabis products and “consumption sites” where people will be allowed to smoke or ingest the products. .

The tiered licensing system aims to create a division between those who produce, wholesal and retail the products, such as in the alcohol market. Most companies would only be allowed to have one type of license to avoid a few players consolidating the entire market. Most dispensaries, for example, will not be able to grow and distribute cannabis as well.

But that won’t apply to the state’s few but influential medical cannabis companies, which currently operate around 40 dispensaries statewide. These companies will be allowed to maintain their vertically integrated operations, meaning they will be able to grow, process and sell cannabis.

Supporters said the new law had guardrails to prevent a few companies from dominating the market and to stem suspicions that rich, white investors would reap most of the benefits, which critics say is what happened in other states.

Half of business licenses, for example, are supposed to be issued to “social equity candidates”. This includes people from communities with high marijuana testing rates, as well as businesses owned by women and minorities, distressed farmers, and disabled veterans. Priority will also be given to applicants who have a marijuana-related conviction, or a close relative with such a conviction.

“I couldn’t be more proud to vote to end the failed marijuana ban policies in our state and begin the process of building a fair and inclusive legal market for adult cannabis,” said the Minister. State Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan who sponsored the bill in the upper house, said in the State Capitol. “It has been a long way to get here, but it will be worth the wait.”

The Cannabis Control Board will conduct a review two years after the first retail sale of cannabis to study market share in the industry and make licensing adjustments to ensure fairness. And medical cannabis companies are said to be limited to just eight dispensaries each.

The new law also includes changes that would significantly expand the medical cannabis program and attract new patients.

Under the new law, patients would no longer be banned from smoking the more affordable cannabis flower. They could also receive up to 60 days of cannabis supply, an extension of the current 30-day cap.

Previously, a small number of diseases qualified patients for the medical use of marijuana, including AIDS, cancer, and epilepsy. Now practitioners will have the discretion to recommend medical marijuana for any condition.

The bill was passed on Tuesday by the state Senate by 40 to 23 and the Assembly by 94 to 56, with all Republicans and a dozen Democrats voting against the bill.

“This law comprehensively tackles the harms of overcriminalization and establishes one of the most ambitious marijuana legalization programs in the country,” said Melissa Moore, state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a national advocacy organization. defense of rights.

“Through this sweeping legislation, New York is implementing reforms that put community reinvestment, social equity and justice at the heart of the law.”