New York on track to become 15th US state to legalise recreational marijuana

After series of discussions between New York lawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo, the state is on the track to become the 15th state of the US to legalise the use of marijuana in a recreational way for all adults over the age of 21, according to a statement released by Cuomo’s office on Sunday. 

States like Oregon, Nevada, South Dakota, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, in addition to Washington DC have already taken the leap to legalise cannabis.  

A statement from Cuomo’s office said the change could net an additional $350 million in annual tax revenues and create tens of thousands of jobs.

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The draft law would allow adults 21 and over to purchase cannabis and grow plants for personal consumption at home, with a plan to divert some funds to drug treatment and education.

“Legalizing adult-use cannabis isn’t just about creating a new market that will provide jobs and benefit the economy — it’s also about justice for long-marginalized communities and ensuring those who’ve been unfairly penalized in the past will now get a chance to benefit,” Cuomo said in the statement.

The law would take immediate effect once passed, but sales could take up to two years to start, as New York creates a proposed cannabis board and gets legal structures in place, a state lawmaker said Friday.

New York would automatically clear records of people with past convictions of marijuana-related offenses that would no longer be criminalised.

The law would also eliminate penalties for possession of up to three ounces of the drug (85 grams), the new personal possession limit. An existing medical-marijuana program would be expanded.

The state plans to tax marijuana sales at nine percent, with revenues from an additional four-percent tax divided between local and county government.

The bill would create loans, grants and programs to foster job creation and industry participation from small farmers, women and disabled veterans, as well as New Yorkers from minority communities.

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The decision, reached late Saturday, comes after years of wrangling over legalizing recreational pot use in New York.

The deal was reached as Governor Cuomo faces investigation from several angles, including for an alleged pattern of sexually harassing and intimidating women employees, as well as for accusations his administration orchestrated a cover-up of nursing home deaths related to COVID-19.

Supporters of the New York legislation believe that the change in policy will act as a redressal mechanism for the years of alleged injustice sparked by the stringent laws created around marijuana. 

“This landmark legislation brings justice to New York State by ending prohibition, expunging conviction records that have curtailed the opportunities of countless predominately young Black and Latinx New Yorkers…”, The Legal Aid Society, a social justice law firm, said in a Sunday statement.