2021 Is High Time For NY Recreational Marijuana, Cuomo Says

NEW YORK CITY — A long-buzzed plan to bring legal weed to New York will be rolled up this year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

Cuomo on Wednesday said his 2021 State of the State will include a recreational marijuana proposal.

“I think this should have been passed years ago,” he said. “I think too many people have been imprisoned and incarcerated and punished. Too many of those people are Black, Latino and poor.”

Cuomo has long said it’s high time for New York to join the growing number of states with legal cannabis for adults.

The proposal, as detailed in a release, calls for the state to legalize adult use and create a a new Office of Cannabis Management to oversee that recreational marijuana project, as well as existing medical and cannabinoid hemp programs.

It also will create an equitable structure for the recreational, adult-use market by offering licensing opportunities and assistance to entrepreneurs in communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, the release states.

‘Once fully implemented, legalization is expected to generate more than $300 million in tax revenue,” the release states.

Cuomo said he will also propose a legal sports betting program. He said it will run similar to the lottery, rather than in other states where sports betting is essentially run by casinos.

“That makes a lot of money for casinos, but it makes minimal money for the state,” he said. “I’m not here to make casinos a lot of money, I’m here to raise money for the state.”

Both programs will help cover revenue losses from the coronavirus crisis, Cuomo said. He said the pandemic likely will give the marijuana proposal the “momentum” to pass.