The bill does not allow municipalities to opt out of adult legalization. Legalization may not be big news anymore, but it`s a big deal. This is the biggest change in U.S. drug policy in decades. By aligning marijuana with alcohol and tobacco rather than harder drugs, the policy change creates a new industry. And over time, it could reduce the hundreds of thousands of marijuana arrests made each year in the U.S., freeing up police resources. Disagreements over the allocation of marijuana tax money have proven critical to the failure of the legal cannabis law this year and could jeopardize renewed efforts in 2020. “In every state that falls, we are marching toward national legalization. If national legalization happens, it will disrupt that basket of apples for all states,” Caulkins told Courthouse News on Monday. “There`s a chain of dominoes, and it`s an above-average domino, but it`s part of an ongoing movement.” Just days after New Jersey voters approved a referendum to legalize recreational marijuana, Governor Cuomo predicts the time may be right to iron out the sticking points that have delayed a legalization bill in New York City. The shift to supporting legalization campaigns in the U.S. The 21 states that have legalized it have only done so since 2012, starting with Colorado and Washington. Three of those states vote reliably for Republicans: Alaska, Montana and Missouri.
However, New Jersey has already seen its recent push to pass recreational marijuana legislation stalled. Instead, the legal weed should go to Jersey voters in the 2020 election on a crucial election issue. The change happened largely because of the support of voters, not politicians or legislators. While the public supports legalization, some prominent political leaders don`t: President Biden has said he opposes it. Donald Trump has called legalization an issue for states to decide, but his 2020 presidential campaign said marijuana should remain illegal. One of the main reasons for the success of marijuana legalization: it is popular. About 68 percent of U.S. adults support legalization, according to a Gallup poll released last week. Even a majority of Republicans, who tend to be more conservative on the issue, told Gallup they support legalization.
Even in states where voters approve legalization, marijuana can remain illegal. South Dakota residents voted to legalize marijuana in 2020, but Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, took the measure to court and won. This month, South Dakota voters rejected another legalization initiative. The legalization of adult use, which allows adults 21 and older to possess up to 3 ounces of cannabis flower and 24 grams of cannabis concentrate, takes effect immediately, although regulated sales at dispensaries would not begin until New York establishes a proposed regulatory oversight body. Cannabis Management Office. And potential cannabis earnings in New York City have prompted cannabis industry executives to deploy waves of lobbyists as part of New York`s battle to legalize marijuana, spending millions of dollars a year since 2013. Ten years ago, no American lived in a state where marijuana was legal for smoking, vaping, or eating recreationally. Today, nearly half of Americans do, or soon will: Voters in Maryland and Missouri voted for legalization votes this month, bringing to 21 the number of states allowing adult use.
Some prominent legislators have not kept up with the change in public opinion. Biden has said he opposes the detention of marijuana users and has pardoned thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law. But he is also opposed to legalization, which puts him in conflict with more than 80 percent of self-proclaimed Democrats. Why did voters come to legalization? Proponents recognize several problems. Much of the public now views the broader war on drugs as a costly failure — and marijuana, widely seen as less dangerous than alcohol, is an accessible target for policy change. The states` medical marijuana experiments, which began in the 1990s, have helped Americans feel more comfortable with loosening access. And the Internet has facilitated the spread of a popular legalization movement. Sen.
Lindsey Graham testified in a Georgia investigation into Trump`s 2020 election interference after struggling not to answer questions. U.S. share of adults opposed to legalization have risen from 52 percent in 2010 to 32 percent today, a trend that is faithfully reflected in New York City, where opposition stood at 36 percent, according to a recent Siena College poll. The state expects it will collect up to $350 million in cannabis taxes and legalization will create up to 60,000 jobs. Amid thousands of lung injuries linked to marijuana vaping and growing gaps in the state budget, lawmakers and advocates are bracing for a political brawl over legalizing adult cannabis use in 2020 after a similar offer failed earlier this year. According to a recent analysis of NYPD data from the Legal Aid Society, blacks or Hispanics accounted for 93 percent of those arrested for marijuana in New York City in 2020. “Given the history of draconian enforcement in New York City, we must be bold and innovative to create justice and equality in marijuana legalization,” the letter said. “When we decriminalized adult marijuana use in 2019, the majority of the Assembly knew legalization had to be done the right way, — in a way that would help prevent harm to our communities ravaged by the state`s drug laws,” said Assembly spokesman Carl Heastie. “The MRTA not only legalizes adult marijuana use, but for decades it has disproportionately targeted people of color, ensured they are included in the legal marijuana industry, and reinvested in education and harmed communities.” Some of the political resistance is fading.
Congress passed its first stand-alone marijuana reform bill last week, which will allow more research into medical uses if Biden signs it into law as planned. Several state lawmakers, including Vermont and Virginia, have legalized recreational marijuana. Some prominent Democrats, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have come out in favor of legalization. At the heart of New York`s cannabis legalization reboot is growing public support, with two-thirds of Americans now saying marijuana use should be legal, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. “What always matters?” the governor asked in an interview this week. “Money and power, who gets the licenses and who gets the money. On public radio, Cuomo says the pandemic`s impact on public finances and the prospect of sending revenue across the Hudson River make it time to legalize.
“I think the pressure is going to increase because we`re going to need so much money,” Cuomo said. While it`s unclear what a potential adult-sponsored marijuana legalization bill would look like here in New York City, some in the cannabis industry say the state, which faces billions of dollars in budget deficits, would benefit tremendously. “It wouldn`t surprise me, even remotely, if New York could make more than four hundred five hundred million dollars in revenue each year in stable condition,” Unruh said. Jeremy Unruh is Senior Vice President of Public and Regulatory Affairs at Pharmacaan, one of 10 registered organizations licensed to grow and distribute medical marijuana in New York City. As his company is about to enter the adult recreational market, he says legalization shouldn`t just be about generating revenue. He says legalization should also promote social justice and equality. “The thinking was how we could make the cannabis space in New York diverse and inclusive, how we could promote notions of social justice and create opportunities for communities that have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs,” Unruh said. “Cannabis in New York should always be socially oriented first, but this economic driver, this need for revenue, is certainly a second tight factor,” agree lawyers at the Legal Aid Society.
“The governor has said things that make us think he thinks revenues should go elsewhere,” said Emma Goodman, a lawyer with the special litigation unit. She says the pandemic has added even more weight to the argument that revenues should benefit communities affected by drug laws. “The communities affected or affected by COVID-19 are the same as those affected by excessive marijuana policing.” Cuomo says lawmakers have an incentive to act, how they will act remains to be seen. Details of Cuomo`s 2020 proposal on recreational marijuana in New York are expected to be part of next month`s executive budget. A coalition of 40 pro-marijuana groups also urged the governor. Andrew Cuomo will hold new listening sessions to better inform the legalization debate, highlighting the potential impacts in communities most affected by racial enforcement of marijuana laws. One of them is Harckham, who remained undecided but leans toward a Yes vote in 2020 after a fact-finding trip to a legal cannabis dispensary last month in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, just across the border from New York.
