Gov. Cuomo Proposing To Legalize Marijuana In NYC For Early 2019
- Thread starter BK The Great
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BK The Great
Veteran
No smoking marijuana in public. An age limit of 21. An option for home delivery.
And what about all those prior convictions for marijuana-related offenses? Automatically expunged.
Those were some of the recommendations made in a 77-page report from New York City officials for how to approach the legalization of recreational marijuana use, an eventuality that Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledged earlier this year even as he stopped short of endorsing the move.
Now, three days after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared marijuana legalization a key part of his agenda for the state in 2019, Mr. de Blasio endorsed legalization for the first time — with caveats.
“I have been convinced that we can establish a regulatory framework that keeps our streets safe, rights the wrongs of the past, and gives economic opportunity to communities hit hardest by the war on drugs,” Mr. de Blasio said in a statement to The New York Times on Wednesday. He is expected to discuss the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, at a news conference on Thursday.
Should the state move to legalize marijuana, New York would join 10 other states and Washington, D.C., where recreational marijuana is legal. Sales in New York could exceed $1.7 billion a year, with tax revenues used to fund government programs, as happens in other states.
New York City is also likely to undergo a transition similar to what occurred in other states, where the drug has become part of the daily backdrop. While Mr. Cuomo has not outlined a detailed plan for legalization, the recommendations from the city’s report resemble approaches already adopted elsewhere in the country.
The report recommends limiting drug testing of job applicants — something Washington D.C. voted to do in 2014 — and random tests for employees. Criminal records for marijuana-related offenses should be expunged for drug crimes that would no longer be illegal, a recommendation, like others in the report, that would require a change in state law.
For Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat who has presented himself as aligned with the progressive wing of the party, the change of public position comes after years of being critical of the prospect of marijuana legalization — even as he prepared for its eventuality.
On Wednesday, the Brooklyn district attorney, Eric Gonzalez called forsome marijuana convictions in the borough to be erased.
“I believe the laws we have now are the right laws,” Mr. de Blasio said in September 2017 when asked about marijuana. A few months later, he declared himself “skeptical but willing to study.”
“I think what would happen in a legalization dynamic is it would become another corporate reality,” Mr. de Blasio said in April in an attempt to thread his opposition to marijuana legalization through the progressive needle of anti-corporate activism.
“There are real safety issues, real health issues, there’s huge issues of how we stop corporate America from taking over the marijuana industry,” he said two weeks ago.
While legalization is a matter of state law, New York City officials hope they can influence the process in Albany — something Mr. de Blasio’s administration has often struggled to do — and carve out areas of local control. With both houses of the State Legislature under Democratic control, the city is likely to have more influence than in years past.
“We look forward to reviewing this report from one of the many municipalities in New York,” Tyrone Stevens, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said of the de Blasio administration report, adding that the governor initiated a “comprehensive study” of legalized marijuana a year ago.
The city’s report was put together by a group of officials from the police, health and fire departments, as well as officials from the Small Business Services agency and those in charge of increasing minority- and women-owned businesses in New York City.
The heavily footnoted report reads like a lobbying document, laying out the position of the nation’s largest city on an issue that is just beginning to be openly considered by state lawmakers. Some portions were taken from a State Senate bill introduced earlier this year.
The recommendations, if adopted, would largely bring New York in line with states where recreational marijuana is already legal, or those in which proposals are being considered.
“Public consumption should be prohibited unless at locally regulated consumption sites,” the report recommends. Such places to smoke or ingest marijuana legally exist in places like Nevada, said Morgan Fox, spokesman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, who added that other states are wrestling with the idea.
Many of the recommendations are framed in ways to prevent the marijuana businesses from becoming overly corporate. Among those is a capped licensing system that the report compares to one that exists in the craft beer industry; a ban on vertical integration of marijuana businesses; and encouragement for cooperatives. Existing medical marijuana businesses should not get preference for licenses, the report recommends.
Other sections address decades of racially disproportionate marijuana arrests and punishment for marijuana, a trend that has continued in New York City even as the overall number of such arrests has plummeted under Mr. de Blasio. Many infractions are now handled with a summons.
Penalties for violations of marijuana laws, under legalization, should be civil, rather than criminal, the report recommends, including consumption by those under 21.
De Blasio Backs Legalizing Marijuana; Offers Framework on How New York City Would Adapt
And what about all those prior convictions for marijuana-related offenses? Automatically expunged.
Those were some of the recommendations made in a 77-page report from New York City officials for how to approach the legalization of recreational marijuana use, an eventuality that Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledged earlier this year even as he stopped short of endorsing the move.
Now, three days after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared marijuana legalization a key part of his agenda for the state in 2019, Mr. de Blasio endorsed legalization for the first time — with caveats.
“I have been convinced that we can establish a regulatory framework that keeps our streets safe, rights the wrongs of the past, and gives economic opportunity to communities hit hardest by the war on drugs,” Mr. de Blasio said in a statement to The New York Times on Wednesday. He is expected to discuss the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, at a news conference on Thursday.
Should the state move to legalize marijuana, New York would join 10 other states and Washington, D.C., where recreational marijuana is legal. Sales in New York could exceed $1.7 billion a year, with tax revenues used to fund government programs, as happens in other states.
New York City is also likely to undergo a transition similar to what occurred in other states, where the drug has become part of the daily backdrop. While Mr. Cuomo has not outlined a detailed plan for legalization, the recommendations from the city’s report resemble approaches already adopted elsewhere in the country.
The report recommends limiting drug testing of job applicants — something Washington D.C. voted to do in 2014 — and random tests for employees. Criminal records for marijuana-related offenses should be expunged for drug crimes that would no longer be illegal, a recommendation, like others in the report, that would require a change in state law.
For Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat who has presented himself as aligned with the progressive wing of the party, the change of public position comes after years of being critical of the prospect of marijuana legalization — even as he prepared for its eventuality.
On Wednesday, the Brooklyn district attorney, Eric Gonzalez called forsome marijuana convictions in the borough to be erased.
“I believe the laws we have now are the right laws,” Mr. de Blasio said in September 2017 when asked about marijuana. A few months later, he declared himself “skeptical but willing to study.”
“I think what would happen in a legalization dynamic is it would become another corporate reality,” Mr. de Blasio said in April in an attempt to thread his opposition to marijuana legalization through the progressive needle of anti-corporate activism.
“There are real safety issues, real health issues, there’s huge issues of how we stop corporate America from taking over the marijuana industry,” he said two weeks ago.
While legalization is a matter of state law, New York City officials hope they can influence the process in Albany — something Mr. de Blasio’s administration has often struggled to do — and carve out areas of local control. With both houses of the State Legislature under Democratic control, the city is likely to have more influence than in years past.
“We look forward to reviewing this report from one of the many municipalities in New York,” Tyrone Stevens, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said of the de Blasio administration report, adding that the governor initiated a “comprehensive study” of legalized marijuana a year ago.
The city’s report was put together by a group of officials from the police, health and fire departments, as well as officials from the Small Business Services agency and those in charge of increasing minority- and women-owned businesses in New York City.
The heavily footnoted report reads like a lobbying document, laying out the position of the nation’s largest city on an issue that is just beginning to be openly considered by state lawmakers. Some portions were taken from a State Senate bill introduced earlier this year.
The recommendations, if adopted, would largely bring New York in line with states where recreational marijuana is already legal, or those in which proposals are being considered.
“Public consumption should be prohibited unless at locally regulated consumption sites,” the report recommends. Such places to smoke or ingest marijuana legally exist in places like Nevada, said Morgan Fox, spokesman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, who added that other states are wrestling with the idea.
Many of the recommendations are framed in ways to prevent the marijuana businesses from becoming overly corporate. Among those is a capped licensing system that the report compares to one that exists in the craft beer industry; a ban on vertical integration of marijuana businesses; and encouragement for cooperatives. Existing medical marijuana businesses should not get preference for licenses, the report recommends.
Other sections address decades of racially disproportionate marijuana arrests and punishment for marijuana, a trend that has continued in New York City even as the overall number of such arrests has plummeted under Mr. de Blasio. Many infractions are now handled with a summons.
Penalties for violations of marijuana laws, under legalization, should be civil, rather than criminal, the report recommends, including consumption by those under 21.
De Blasio Backs Legalizing Marijuana; Offers Framework on How New York City Would Adapt
Yinny
Biracial a little bit
NJ was supposed to be voting on this drafting leg this year. Hurry up
levitate
I love you, you know.
Good. Just fukking silly that it isn't legalized country wide yet.
ExodusNirvana
Change is inevitable...
Yo...high school to the tail end of college was rough for a breh in BK
There was a point before I was making bread...where I was still copping dimes and dubs and shyt. And we used to stuff the bags down by our ankles in the socks because most cops weren't checking there back then.
Then it seemed like over the course of a summer they started digging in your shoes and shyt to make sure you didn't have shyt
I never got bagged but man were those some crazy times
Yo...high school to the tail end of college was rough for a breh in BK
There was a point before I was making bread...where I was still copping dimes and dubs and shyt. And we used to stuff the bags down by our ankles in the socks because most cops weren't checking there back then.
Then it seemed like over the course of a summer they started digging in your shoes and shyt to make sure you didn't have shyt
I never got bagged but man were those some crazy times
bruh, I only lived up north for a few years but dawg, we used to stash it in our boxers, briefs, under our balls if necessary. Some of the northface jackets had little hidden pockets and shyt that was clutch. In a shorties Bra, if you riding with one. Crazy times man, only got bagged once but luckily in Jersey and was as a minor.