Cuomo vows New York will legalise adult-use recreational cannabis
Jan 12, 2021
New York [US], January 12 : New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday vowed that his state will legalise recreational cannabis as he begins ramping up efforts in the new year to green-light legislation to legalise it.
"We will legalise adult-use recreational cannabis, joining 15 states that have already done so," Cuomo tweeted on Monday as quoted by The Hill.
The move, Cuomo said, will "raise revenue and end the failed prohibition of this product that has left so many communities of color over-policed and over-incarcerated."
The Hill, last week, reported that the New York Governor, who made efforts in the past to make recreational marijuana legal in the state, announced a new proposal that aimed to legalise and establish an office that would oversee and regulate cannabis.
Cuomo's office had announced that a new body will be formed to oversee the state's adult-use program in addition to the state's "existing medical and cannabinoid hemp programs."
"Additionally, an equitable structure for the adult-use market will be created by offering licensing opportunities and assistance to entrepreneurs in communities of colour who have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs," his office said.
The New York state estimated at the time that legalisation of recreational marijuana would help rake in over USD 300 million in tax revenue.
"I have supported it for years. I have tried to pass it, but this is a year where we do need the funding, and a lot of New Yorkers are struggling. So I think this year will give us the momentum to get it over the goal line," Cuomo had said last week.
"Not only will legalising and regulating the adult-use cannabis market provides the opportunity to generate much-needed revenue, but it also allows us to directly support the individuals and communities that have been most harmed by decades of cannabis prohibition," he had added.
The Governor's renewed push to legalise recreational marijuana comes a little more than a year after he signed legislation that saw his state join a number of others in decriminalising marijuana use, while also providing some with marijuana convictions with a path to have their records expunged.
