New York legislature votes to legalize adult recreational cannabis use

New York state lawmakers voted on Tuesday night to legalize adult cannabis and create the nation’s second-largest recreational marijuana market, setting the stage for the Empire State to officially join 16 other states who have adopted full legalization.

The “Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act” NY S854 (21R) / NY A1248 (21R) authorized the Assembly and the Senate after hours of debate on the proposed regulatory structure of the bill, public safety and the implications for law enforcement. health. He is now awaiting final approval from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has said he looks forward to “signing this legislation into law”.

Passage of the bill – which was amended on Saturday as part of a tripartite deal between the Senate, the Assembly and the governor’s office on final language – capped years of work to legalize recreational cannabis for New Yorkers aged 21 and over.

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, who sponsored the bill in her chamber, said she would continue the work of lawmakers to right the wrongs of prohibition, reducing criminal penalties for possession and sale of cannabis, expanding the expungement of previous criminal convictions and devoting tax revenues to help communities disproportionately affected by the state’s once notorious drug laws.

“Although it took a long time, we are getting there today,” she said in a speech. “Today we are canceling 90 years of prohibition. The last time New York State did anything of the sort was when we removed the alcohol ban: it was in 1933. Here we are in 2021 – almost 100 years. ban on marijuana – and we are removing it.

Manhattan Democrat and Bill sponsor Senator Liz Krueger said she was “very proud to have played a part in what was a huge task to bring us here today.”

Passage of the bill marked an important political victory not only for the sponsors but also for Cuomo, whose legacy has taken a hit in recent weeks amid allegations of sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior at the venue. work and concealment of deaths in retirement homes.

Once the bill is signed, more than two-thirds of the 56 million people in the Northeast will live in states that have legalized recreational cannabis, increasing pressure on Washington, DC to relax federal restrictions. on drugs.

The sweeping bill calls for the creation of an Office of Cannabis Management to oversee New York’s recreational, medical and agricultural cannabis markets. It sets a 9 percent sales tax on cannabis, an additional 4 percent tax split between county and municipalities, plus another tax based on THC content – 0.5 cents per milligram for the flower, 0.8 cents per milligram for concentrated cannabis and 3 cents per milligram for edibles. Forty percent of excess sales revenue would be spent on reinvesting in communities disproportionately affected by state drug laws, with 40 percent on public education and 20 percent on treatment, prevention and drug addiction education.

Cities, towns and villages would be able to refuse to have adult clinics and consumption sites in their communities.

The legislation also allows limited home cultivation of three mature plants and three immature plants; includes equity programs to ensure broad opportunities for participation in the new legal sector; ends the penalties for possession of less than three ounces of cannabis; and calls for the automatic delisting of the files of people who have already been convicted of activities which are no longer criminalized. And it establishes a new range of criminal penalties for the illegal possession and sale of cannabis, and incorporates cannabis impairment into the offense of impaired driving.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said House Democrats “knew it was important to do it the right way – in a way that included those targeted and frequently excluded from the process.” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​added that “the Democratic Senate majority is stepping up to give New Yorkers the fair and equitable adult marijuana market they deserve.”

Krueger called the bill a “leading model for what legalizing marijuana can look like,” noting that it reflects the contributions advocates and critics have offered in the seven years since its introduction. . The regulatory structure proposed by the MRTA, she added, will ensure that marijuana is safe “from seed to sale,” while reducing the state’s illegal market footprint.

But opponents have warned the measure would increase rates of drug addiction and impaired driving. They further raised concerns that New Yorkers under the age of 21 could more easily access the drug.

“I think this bill will end up costing us more than it benefits us,” said Assembly Robert Smullen (R-Gloversville).

Assembly Member Mike Lawler (R-Orangetown) argued that “by legalizing the recreational use of marijuana but not limiting potency, we are making sure that more people will have a use disorder. of substances “.

Kevin Sabet, chairman of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and outspoken critic for the legislation, said “this is a very bad bill” for communities, road safety and public health.

“Perhaps in need of a political distraction during an extremely difficult year, unfortunately the governor and legislative leaders have finally ceded to the interests of Big Marijuana above the best interests of New Yorkers,” he said. stated in a press release.

The bill’s passage comes a year after lawmakers suspended efforts to legalize adult cannabis as Covid-19 began to spread – and months after New Jersey voters approved marijuana legal in the 2020 election, pressuring New York to act.

New York is set to become the fourth state to pass recreation legalization through the Legislature, joining Illinois, Virginia, and Vermont. Several other states, including New Mexico, Connecticut and Rhode Island, are also looking to pass adult legalization bills this year.