Skip to main content

New York Decriminalizes Recreational Marijuana, Falls Short Of Governor’s Goal To Legalize

New York became the 15th state Monday to decriminalize marijuana.

New York became the 15th state Monday to decriminalize marijuana.

Getty

Topline: New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill Monday further decriminalizing recreational use of marijuana, but fell short of his goal to fully legalize the substance in 2019.

  • Under the new law, people will have to pay small fines instead of facing criminal charges for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
  • New penalties under the law are a $50 fine for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana and a maximum $200 fine for possessing one to two ounces.
  • The law also offers a process for people with marijuana possession convictions to have their records wiped clean.
  • “Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by laws governing marijuana for far too long, and today we are ending this injustice once and for all,” Cuomo said. 

Key background: According to the FBI, over 360,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession between 2008 and 2017. Although fully legalizing marijuana was one of Cuomo’s top legislative goals for 2019, the effort collapsed in June when state Democrats disagreed on how to regulate the industry. The Times-Union reported the bill signed Monday is seen as a compromise between industry regulation and the impact of marijuana criminalization on communities of color. A state report said marijuana sales could generate between $1.7 and $3.5 billion in annual revenue. Cuomo wanted to use marijuana revenue to bolster New York City’s distressed subway system, among other needs. Marijuana is fully legalized in 11 states (plus Washington, D.C.); 14 other states decriminalized marijuana before New York. According to federal law, however, marijuana remains illegal in the U.S.

Original Article Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2019/07/29/new-york-decriminalizes-recreational-marijuana-falls-short-of-governors-goal-to-legalize/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Feds Hire Hazmat Firm For Marijuana Eradication Training

An ambitious campaign to decriminalize psychedelics in Washington, D.C., is one step closer to placing their measure on the November ballot with the formal submission of tens of thousands of voter signatures. Organizers have been scrambling for weeks to collect enough signatures from D.C. voters by Monday’s deadline amid historically difficult circumstances: a global pandemic, months of stay-at-home orders and protests over racism and police violence that filled the streets of the nation’s capital. But with the help of innovative signature-gathering techniques and allies flown in from across the country, advocates said they had successfully submitted upwards of 35,000 signatures—more than enough to qualify the initiative. If approved by voters, Initiative 81 would make enforcement of laws against plant- and fungus-based psychedelics among the “lowest law enforcement priorities” for the Metropolitan Police Department. It would not, however, legalize or reduce penalties for the substa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mississippi Medical Marijuana Activists Relieved After Controversial Legalization Resolution Stalls Out

Only a day after a new marijuana decriminalization law took effect in Virginia, top state lawmakers are announcing that they’re already looking ahead to full legalization. A group of Democratic legislators on Thursday announced plans to introduce a bill to legalize and regulate a commercial cannabis market in the state. While the measure isn’t set to be filed until next year, lawmakers framed legalization as necessary in the fight for social and racial justice. “Decriminalizing marijuana is an important step in mitigating racial disparities in the criminal justice system, but there is still much work to do,” House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D) said in a press release. “While marijuana arrests across the nation have decreased, arrests in Virginia have increased.” Other lawmakers backing the broader legalization push include Sens. Adam Ebbin (D) and Jennifer McClellan (D), as well as Del. Steve Heretick (D). On Wednesday, the state’s new marijuana decriminalization policy too...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marijuana Ballot Initiative Campaigns Raised $12.9 Million, Final Pre-Election Numbers Show

2018 has been a banner year for marijuana ballot initiatives. Voters in two states are considering legalizing recreational use, while those in another two states will decide whether to allow medical cannabis. In the lead-up to the election, committees supporting or opposing these initiatives have raised a total of $12.9 million in cash and in-kind services over the past two years to convince those voters, Marijuana Moment’s analysis of the latest campaign finance records filed the day before Election Day shows. On the day final ballots are cast and tallied, here’s where funding totals now stand for the various cannabis committees, both pro and con, in the four states considering major modifications to marijuana laws. (Notes: For Missouri, PACS supported one of three initiatives that would bring some form of medical marijuana to the state. Missouri Oppose ($6,000) data isn’t visible on chart due to scale.) Missouri Missouri has three different medical cannabis ballot initiatives ,...
Post a Comment
Read more