NEW YORK REACHES DEAL TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA
New York state officials finalized a deal Thursday to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, paving the way for a potential $4.2 billion industry that could create tens of thousands of jobs and become one of the largest markets in the country.
Following several failed attempts, lawmakers in Albany struck an agreement with Gov. Andrew Cuomo to legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, a move that officials hope will help end years of racially disproportionate policing that saw Black and Hispanic people arrested on lowlevel marijuana charges far more frequently than White people.
The deal would allow delivery of the drug and permit club-like lounges or “consumption sites” where marijuana, but not alcohol, could be consumed, according to details obtained by The New York Times. It would also allow a person to cultivate up to six marijuana plants at home, indoors or outdoors, for personal use.
If approved, the first sales of legal marijuana are likely more than a year away. Officials must first face the daunting task of writing the complex rules that will control a highly regulated market, from the regulation of wholesalers and dispensaries, to the allocation of cultivation and retail licenses, to the creation of new taxes and a five-member control board that would oversee the industry.
The deal was crafted with an intense focus on making amends in communities impacted by the decadeslong war on drugs. Millions of dollars in tax revenue from cannabis sales would be reinvested in minority communities each year, and a sizable portion of business licenses would be reserved for minority business owners.
“A percentage of revenue that is raised will get invested into the communities where the people who suffered mass incarceration come from and still live in many cases,” said Assemblywoman Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, a Democrat who has spearheaded the legalization effort in the lower chamber for years. “For me, this is a lot more than about raising revenue: It’s about investing in the lives of the people that have been damaged.”
The governor’s office had previously estimated that legalizing marijuana could generate about $350 million in yearly tax revenue once the program was fully implemented, which could take years.
The marijuana proposal was initially being negotiated as part of the state budget, which is due April 1, but lawmakers said it would be fasttracked to be voted on as a stand-alone piece of legislation.
Under the current deal, lawmakers appeared to get their wish: 40 percent of most tax revenues would be reinvested in communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs; 40 percent would be steered to public education; and the remaining 20 percent would go toward drug treatment, prevention and education.
The retail sale of marijuana would be subject to a 9 percent state tax and a 4 percent local tax.
The deal also includes “equity programs” that would provide loans, grants and incubator programs for small farmers and people from disproportionately impacted communities who want to enter the industry.