As part of the Governor’s 2021 State of the State address, Andrew Cuomo announced another proposal for cannabis legalization in New York State.

Is This the Year for Cannabis Legalization in New York State?

Governor Andrew Cuomo has previously stated that cannabis legalization in New York State could be a key way to make an economic recovery from the pandemic. According to State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon, NY has paid out more than $59 billion in unemployment benefits to over 3.9 million New Yorkers during the COVID-19 crisis. New York has confirmed more than a million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and more than 38,000 have died due to the disease.

Show Me the Money

Gov. Cuomo stated that one of the many reasons for cannabis legalization is because it brings in tax revenue and New York will be “searching the cupboards for revenue” in the financial wake of COVID-19. Illinois, a state that legalized cannabis for recreational use just last year, is on pace to see more than $1 billion in combined sales of medical and recreational cannabis products. 

Cannabis legalization has been dropped twice from the New York State budget proposal after negotiations between Cuomo’s office and the State legislature fell through. The major sticking point is how the tax revenue from cannabis will be spent. Cuomo has now reintroduced another cannabis legalization measure in 2021. The proposal would create an office of Cannabis Management to oversee the adult-use (recreational), medical marijuana, and cannabinoid hemp programs. 

Is 2021 the Year?

Assembly majority leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, of Buffalo, has advocated that tax revenue generated from cannabis legalization should be used to help repair the damage cannabis prohibition has done to minority communities. According to the drug policy alliance, Black and Hispanic people accounted for 75% of New York’s cannabis arrests in 2019 and 93% of arrests in NYC in the first half of 2019. According to Cuomo’s press office, his new proposal would create licensing opportunities and assistance to entrepreneurs in communities of color that have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs.

Below Is a Timeline of the Path to Cannabis Legalization in New York State:

• 2014 Cuomo signs The Compassionate Care Act, Medical Cannabis Legalized
• 2016 Medical Cannabis Program Expanded to Include Chronic Pain
• 2017 Medical Cannabis Program Expanded to Include PTSD
• 2018 Medical Cannabis Program Expanded to Include Opioid Use
• 2018 Cuomo Recommends Legislative Study on the Impact of Legalizing (recreational) Cannabis
• 2018 Department of Health Completes Study and Recommends Legalizing Cannabis citing Economic, Public Health, and Public Safety Benefits
• 2019 Further decriminalization measures passed
• 2020 Cannabis legalization is dropped from the State’s budget due to the emergence of COVID-19
• 2021 Cuomo Announces Proposal to Legalize and Create an Equitable Adult-use Cannabis Program as Part of the 2021 State of the State Address