Cahill: ‘Time has come’ to legalize pot
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Assemblyman Kevin Cahill says some his own family members who suffered from advanced cancer didn’t use marijuana to relieve pain because it was illegal.
“I have had other members of my family who said that, in spite of the fact that it was illegal, they would use it — and sure enough, they did,” Cahill said.
Cahill, a Kingston Democrat, said “the time has come” to take marijuana out of the realm of criminality.
Cahill, who recently participated in a livestream interview at the Freeman, said he doesn’t like the term “recreational marijuana,” arguing that the use of such a term is an attempt to “deride” the legalization movement.
“The reality is, from a Marist poll, that 92 percent of people over 50 said they would use marijuana legally for different reasons,” said Cahill. He said many say they would use it for “relaxation,” “appetite purposes” “helping the sleep” or to “ameliorate some kind of condition.”
He supports an effort to make “adult use of marijuana” legal in New York state.
Earlier this month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he remained confident the state Legislature could vote to legalize recreational marijuana as part of the state budget, which is due April 1.
The governor made the comment after Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, DBronx, questioned whether lawmakers would have enough time to resolve thorny questions surrounding legalization while also working their way through a proposed $175 billion spending plan.
While both the Democratic governor and Heastie support legalization, there’s not yet an agreement on the details, such as tax rates and rules about how the product should be sold and regulated.
Cahill agreed there is a lot to consider. He predicted a vote on the matter will occur “maybe (within) months,” probably independent from the budget approval.
“There is a right way to do it and there is a wrong way to do it,” said Cahill, who added that there is bipartisan, “broad-based” support for legalization.
Cahill said that a “system of regulations, a system of marketing, a system of banking, and a system of going through our criminal records,” among other things, all need to be ironed out.
But he empathized that one factor is key in his mind in favor of legalization of marijuana in New York state.
“The criminalization of marijuana has contorted our criminal justice system,” said Cahill, who has been an assemblyman for 23 years. “It has placed into the criminal justice system people who are not a danger to society. It has created criminal records for people who don’t deserve criminal records. We have to end that.”
Cahill said a possible state revenue boost from taxing marijuana sales, however, should not be a driving consideration.