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Cuomo And State Democrats Still At Odds Over How To Legalize Marijuana
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Feb 10, 2021
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By
Caroline Lewis
Published Feb 10, 2021
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After getting sidelined by the pandemic in 2020, marijuana legalization is once again a high priority in Albany this year. Since New Jersey approved a ballot measure legalizing cannabis for adult use in November, advocates say it makes sense that New York would follow on its heels. But tension between the governor and lawmakers over what legalization should look like could still prove to be a sticking point.
Over the past couple of years, sponsors of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act have built up support for the bill in the state legislature, while Governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly introduced his own proposal for marijuana legalization in the state budget. This year, advocates and lawmakers who support the MRTA are calling out Cuomo’s latest proposal for not going far enough to remove criminal penalties for marijuana-related offenses and address the harms prohibition has caused communities of color.
“Clearly, his tax proposals are all wrong, clearly his social equity proposals are all wrong, so there are a number of things that need to be fixed and if they’re not fixed, we’ll be here next year doing the same thing,” Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes said in a Zoom press conference on marijuana legalization last week.
The state projects the cannabis industry will eventually generate more than $300 million in annual tax revenue. Starting in fiscal year 2023, Cuomo has promised to set aside $10 million in tax revenue for a social equity fund, with the amount gradually ramping up to $50 million annually starting in fiscal year 2027.
But supporters of the MRTA argue the governor’s proposal does not include specific provisions for how the funds will be used.
“He doesn’t think we should be outlining what the revenue is for and we are committed to a significant chunk of this revenue going to social justice investment in communities hurt the most by the drug war,” said State Senator Liz Krueger, a primary sponsor of the bill.
Among other measures, the MRTA would create a business incubator for people from underrepresented communities to enter the legal cannabis industry, including those who have been convicted of a marijuana-related crime or come from a community that’s been disproportionately impacted by criminalization.
Melissa Moore, director of the New York chapter of the Drug Policy Alliance, said there’s a benefit to being among the first to market in a newly legal state. “We’ve seen very clearly when communities are told, ‘We’ll come back for this piece, we just have to get this over the finish line,’ that never really happens.”
Moore added that she was alarmed that the governor’s latest proposal no longer includes special licenses for cannabis delivery or onsite consumption (essentially, the creation of a cannabis lounge).
“We’re trying to make sure this industry is one where folks who don’t have incredibly deep pockets are able to make a go of it,” Moore said. “So, removing two of the licensing categories that would be most feasible for folks to enter into the field makes no sense at all.”
Eli Northrup, an attorney with the Bronx Defenders, said the governor’s proposal also doesn’t go far enough to remove criminal penalties for marijuana-related offenses and in some cases criminalizes them further.
“Right now, it’s a misdemeanor to sell a small amount of marijuana to someone under the age of 21, but the governor’s proposal would make that a Class D felony,” Northrup said. “If you have two 20-year-olds passing a joint back and forth, they would technically be guilty of a marijuana sale.”
The MRTA specifically bans police from using the smell of marijuana to justify searches, while the governor’s proposal specifically allows officers to use it to determine whether someone is driving under the influence.
“The odor of marijuana is the number one justification police use to search people now that stop and frisk was outlawed,” Northrup said. “It’s like stop, sniff and frisk.”
Northrup added, “If criminal penalties exist for marijuana, those laws are not going to be enforced evenly. They’re going to be enforced disproportionately for people of color.”
Black and Latinx New Yorkers have long been disproportionately criminalized for marijuana offenses, despite White people using the drug at roughly the same rate. Even when marijuana arrests dropped precipitously in 2020, extreme racial disparities persisted. Of the 60 people arrested for low-level marijuana offenses in New York City in the 3rd quarter of 2020, all but two were Black or Latinx (one person was white and one person’s race was unknown).
“For the governor to not address what is happening, what he’s saying is the issues of Black people don’t matter, the ways that Black people are criminalized by police don’t matter,” said Anthonine Pierre, deputy director of the community group Brooklyn Movement Center.
Governor Cuomo’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the objections to his legalization proposal, or his reason for advancing legalization through the budget rather than the legislature.
Krueger said she’s open to legalizing marijuana through the MRTA or the budget, as long as Cuomo is willing to negotiate. The lawmaker added that she is more confident this year than in previous years that she will have the votes to get the MRTA passed in the state Senate. Democrats currently have a supermajority in both houses, capable of overriding the governor’s veto.
“We keep getting new, younger senators, and Democrats, and age plays a significant role in people’s attitudes towards marijuana,” Krueger said.
After meeting with legislators last week, Northrup said, “I don’t think New York can fail to legalize marijuana this year. I think it’s a question of how it’s going to happen, not if it’s going to happen.”
Tagged
marijuana
andrew cuomo
legalization
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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