Marijuana advocates rally for budget deal

Cuomo says legalization still on table as negotiations to meet Sunday deadline continue

Supporters of adult-use recreational marijuana are making a last-ditch plea to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders to include its legalization as part of the state budget amid ongoing uncertainty that the issue can be hashed out by Sunday’s budget deadline.

Advocates on both sides of the issue are trying to make their voices heard as the

deadline looms. But supporters of legalization ramped up their efforts Tuesday as talk of stalled negotiations raised new questions about whether lawmakers are prepared to vote on the issue if marijuana isn’t pushed through as part of the budget.

“I think we have the best chance that we have right now,” said Kassandra Frederique, state director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Politically, everyone knows your best shot is the budget process.”

Cuomo agreed. In a Tuesday appearance on WNYC, he said that although he had pulled marijuana revenues from his 2019-20 budget proposal, the issue was very much on the table during budget negotiations.

“The budget is a decision-making point that stops dialogue and tends to forge compromise and consensus,” he said. “And if you go past the budget then there’s no natural termination point. You can debate, you can argue, you can refine. But I think our best shot at getting it done is to get it done in the budget.”

Supporters and opponents of marijuana legalization haven’t been quite sure what to make of comments by the governor and legislative leaders in recent weeks, who one moment signal negotiations are moving forward and the next suggest they are at an impasse.

At a press event earlier this month, Cuomo said he didn’t believe marijuana could be negotiated by the budget deadline.

“There is a wide divide on marijuana,” he said. “I believe ultimately we can get there and we must get there. I don’t believe we get there in two weeks.”

Rich Azzopardi, senior advisor to Cuomo, said Tuesday that marijuana revenue had been removed from the budget because, based on comments from legislative leaders, it couldn’t be counted on. But he said the governor remains willing to work on the issue.

Of the 10 states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, nine did so by ballot measures. Only Vermont passed it through the state Legislature, though the plan did not allow for retail sales.

The last-minute scuttling of a marijuana vote Monday by New Jersey’s Legislature seemed to light a fire under advocates in New York, who fear that if legalization doesn’t pass in the budget, it may not garner enough votes among lawmakers to pass in the 2019 legislative session.

That’s because even those lawmakers who support marijuana legalization in theory remain unsure how the state should actually implement it, and have empathized with parents, medical professionals and law enforcement officials who have expressed concerns about youth consumption, mental health and addiction issues, and a possible rise in drugged driving.

“We urge you to listen to all of our concerns, and decouple this issue from state budget negotiations,” the New York State Parent Teachers Association wrote to legislative leaders in a letter Tuesday.

Groups representing communities of color, meanwhile, say there is no time to wait. Marijuana prohibition continues to disproportionately impact black and Hispanic men and women in New York, who are arrested, convicted and sentenced at higher rates than their white peers.

The marijuana proposal on the table includes a reparative justice component that would allow individuals to seal or reduce pot convictions on their records.

Such convictions have kept many individuals out of the workforce, perpetuating a cycle in which they rely on the illicit economy to get by.

“What we have heard from the governor in the last two weeks has been disappointing and disheartening, and has just reinforced that our communities are not worth the fight,” said Frederique. “... Every day that marijuana legalization does not pass our communities remain in the crosshairs.”