New York state cannabis advocates were bitterly disappointed last year, when two rival legalization measures both failed to pass at the end of the state\u2019s legislative session in June. One of those measures \u2014 pushed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and generally disfavored by activists \u2014 has just been revised and reintroduced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s cannabis community is still parsing the details. But there is some skepticism as to whether the bill lives up to Cuomo\u2019s promises on crafting a legalization model with a sense of social equity.<\/p>\n
For the second year in a row, Cuomo has introduced a cannabis legalization measure in the state budget. In a\u00a0budget outline<\/a>\u00a0released on Jan. 21, Cuomo calls for a \u201ccomprehensive regulatory approach to legalize cannabis.\u201d The move follows through on a pledge the governor made just two weeks earlier in his annual\u00a0State of the State address<\/a>, in which he openly said: \u201cLet\u2019s legalize adult use of marijuana.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cuomo\u2019s budget\u00a0calls for\u00a0<\/a>creating a new Office of Cannabis Management to oversee \u201cmedical, adult-use and hemp programs.\u201d In other words, all aspects of the cannabis plant would be regulated by one agency.\u00a0Under the adult-use system, those over 21 will be able to legally purchase from licensed retailers. The state will also\u00a0establish a \u201cGlobal Cannabis & Hemp Center for Science, Research and Education\u201d within the State University of New York (SUNY<\/a>) system.<\/p>\n The outline explicitly addresses the question of equity: \u201cThe proposal will also correct past harms to individuals and communities that have disproportionately been impacted by prohibition.\u201d<\/p>\n This likewise echoes rhetoric from Cuomo\u2019s State of the State speech, when he said: \u201cFor decades, communities of color were disproportionately affected by the unequal enforcement of marijuana laws.\u201d<\/p>\n And the budget outline reiterates Cuomo\u2019s call last year for a\u00a0regional bloc of Northeast states<\/a>\u00a0that embrace legalization and work together to have similar laws. In his plan, Cuomo notes he wants to work with Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania on cannabis laws.\u00a0<\/p>\n A\u00a0press statement<\/a>\u00a0plugging the budget plan touted it as a \u201cnation-leading regulatory structure to regulate and control adult-use marijuana to ensure displacement of the illicit market, safeguard public health and safety, and encourage participation by communities and stakeholders that have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Some cannabis boosters are optimistic about Cuomo\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll really be a gigantic market,\u201d Morgan Fox of the\u00a0National Cannabis Industry Association<\/a>\u00a0told\u00a0CNN Business<\/a>, noting New York\u2019s large population, huge tourist draw and financial hub status. New York legalizing would \u201chave ripples in global policy when it comes to cannabis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But there is potential for another political logjam. The alternative measure that failed to pass last year was the Marijuana Taxation & Regulation Act (MRTA), and because New York runs on a two-year legislative cycle, it is officially still pending. And, again, Cuomo is hoping his measure will be ushered in along with the rest of the budget (although last year it was excised before the budget passed). In announcing the new measure in the Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal, he was fairly explicit about this aim.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI believe it is best done in the budget,\u201d he\u00a0told reporters<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cI believe the budget is the opportunity frankly to make some tough decisions and work through tough issues that without the budget can often languish.\u201d<\/p>\n So there is a sense of\u00a0deja vu<\/em>\u00a0here. The Democrats taking the state Senate for the first time in years in the 2018 midterm elections resulted in a flurry of progressive legislation. But with cannabis legalization still stalled, there are now ominous forebodings of backlash in the Empire State.<\/p>\n The\u00a0New York Times<\/a>\u00a0notes that Cuomo and his fellow Democrats are facing political fallout from a new law that\u00a0sharply reduces the use of cash bail<\/a>\u00a0in favor of releasing arrestees on their \u201cown recognizance<\/a>,\u201d in an effort to reduce jail populations.\u00a0The law took effect on New Year\u2019s Day \u2014 and was immediately followed by concerns over a\u00a0rash of anti-Semitic attacks<\/a>, some said to have been committed by perps released under the new law. Even Cuomo himself has already broached a tightening of the law.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the MRTA advocates \u2014 who had viewed Cuomo\u2019s 2019 legalization measure as too restrictive, and lacking sufficient equity measures \u2014 are weighing whether his new measure is worth supporting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some measures in the MRTA did get spun off into separate legislation that was\u00a0passed last year<\/a>. These include the expungement of thousands of low-level cannabis convictions, and closing the \u201cpublic view loophole,\u201d which allowed police to keep making marijuana arrests despite the decriminalization that has been in place in the state since 1977 \u2014 either for public smoking, or if suspects can be intimidated into showing cops their stash during a street stop. Under the reform package passed last June (kind of a consolation prize to activists in lieu of legalization), public use of pot has been dropped from a misdemeanor to an infraction.<\/p>\n But advocates insist there is much more to be done.<\/p>\n The racial disparity in cannabis arrests survived decriminalization, and has\u00a0survived the new policy in New York City<\/a>\u00a0of de-emphasizing pot arrests. Will it also survive legalization?<\/p>\n A\u00a0New York City Health Department report<\/a>\u00a0released in September of last year revealed that in the city, white folks use marijuana at a significantly\u00a0higher<\/em>\u00a0rate than black folks\u2014and at a rate twice as high as Latinos. However, based on police stats filed with the state\u00a0Division of Criminal Justice Services<\/a>, black and Latin New Yorkers accounted for a staggering 94% of all low-level cannabis arrests in New York City during the first six months of 2019. The NYPD arrested 1,436 people for possession or sale from January to June \u2014 with 1,349 identified as black or Hispanic.<\/p>\n And this was despite a \u201ccommitment to fair and equitable cannabis legalization\u201d\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0by Mayor Bill de Blasio in December 2018, when the Mayor\u2019s Task Force on Cannabis Legalization turned in its recommendations.<\/p>\n Six months later, the city had still not closed the racial gap in cannabis busts.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Start Smart NY<\/a>\u00a0website, which was launched to promote the MRTA, states: \u201cMarijuana possession is one of the top misdemeanor arrests in New York State \u2014 and has been for the last twenty years. As a result, nearly one million New Yorkers have had contact with the criminal justice system \u2014 the overwhelming majority of whom, more than 80 percent \u2014 are Black and Latino, despite similar rates of consumption across racial and ethnic groups.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2018, the Manhattan District Attorney joined the Brooklyn DA in announcing that his office would\u00a0no longer prosecute<\/a>\u00a0low-level pot busts. With the election of Melinda Katz as Queens DA last year, another of New York City\u2019s five boroughs has joined this policy. Katz\u00a0promised<\/a>\u00a0she will \u201crefuse to prosecute low-level marijuana arrests within Queens and will instead urge the legislature to legalize adult recreational cannabis and expunge all convictions for past arrests,\u201d according to her\u00a0campaign website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Melissa Moore, deputy state director for New York with the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA<\/a>), told Cannabis Now that these policies have still failed to close the racial gap.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been 800,000 cannabis arrests in New York state over the past 20 years, despite the 1977 law. With the new policies, arrest numbers have come down but the disparity has gotten worse,\u201d Moore said. \u201cIt just shows the urgency of cannabis legalization in New York \u2014 it is clear that decrim has never been enough.\u201d<\/p>\n But will even legalization be enough?<\/p>\n Upon release of Cuomo\u2019s new proposal, DPA policy director\u00a0Kassandra Frederique issued a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0applauding the progress \u2014 but finding that the equity measures are insufficient.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are pleased to see Governor Cuomo\u2019s commitment to passing comprehensive marijuana legalization in the state budget this year, and to see him include social equity and small business incubator programs,\u201d Frederique wrote. \u201cWe are disappointed Governor Cuomo doesn\u2019t clearly guarantee that a portion of funds from marijuana sales will be reinvested into the communities most harmed by New York\u2019s marijuana arrest crusade. Without this necessary component, the Governor\u2019s proposal will not truly right the wrongs done to communities of color by disproportionate enforcement of marijuana.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The continuance of disproportionate arrests, however, will be contingent on continued loopholes in the law. Still processing the text of Cuomo\u2019s proposed legislation is David Holland, a New York City criminal defense attorney who is both president of the\u00a0NYC Cannabis Industry Association<\/a>\u00a0and executive director of\u00a0Empire State NORML<\/a>. Speaking to Cannabis Now, Holland noted one loophole from existing law that survives in Cuomo\u2019s new proposal: cannabis concentrates, presumably including hashish as well as oils and extracts, do not appear to be covered in the legalization.<\/p>\n Under New York State law, \u201cmarijuana\u201d (now renamed \u201ccannabis\u201d under Cuomo\u2019s proposal) falls under Penal Law 221, and has been decriminalized since 1977. But extracts and concentrates fall under Penal Law 220, for general \u201ccontrolled substances,\u201d with much harsher penalties.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can get busted for a concentrate and get booked on a \u2018controlled substance\u2019 offense,\u201d Holland says. \u201cThat\u2019s how they\u2019ve been getting around this problem, and the new bill does not appear to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n Holland adds that \u201cthe \u2018public nuisance\u2019 loophole will always remain\u201d \u2014 although the new bill seems vague on how that is defined.\u00a0<\/p>\n As long as loopholes in any legalization law persist, it\u2019s a pretty good bet that racist enforcement will persist too. In the coming weeks, New York activists will have to decide whether Cuomo\u2019s proposal sufficiently closes the loopholes, and sufficiently addresses equity concerns \u2014 or whether they will stick with the MRTA, at risk of the Legislature remaining divided over rival legalization bills.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, do you think New York will legalize pot in 2020?<\/p>\n The post Cuomo Pledges Legal Cannabis for New York in 2020, But Where\u2019s the Equity?<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
New York state cannabis advocates were bitterly disappointed last year, when two rival legalization measures both failed to pass at the end of the state\u2019s legislative session in June. One of those measures \u2014 pushed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and generally disfavored by activists \u2014 has just been revised andContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,2462,3920,65,208,81,171],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40848"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40849,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40848\/revisions\/40849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2028The Chances of Success for New York Pot in 2020<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The Racial Disparities in New York Pot Policing<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Cuomo\u2019s Proposal: The Small Print\u00a0\u2028<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Cuomo Pledges Legal Cannabis for New York in 2020, But Where\u2019s the Equity?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"