Legalization is still possible this year, but only if we continue to put the pressure on our elected officials to get it done.
Tag: new york
A.1617, the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), has been re-introduced this legislative session. The bill would legalize the adult possession, use, and regulated sale of marijuana.
In news that bodes well for the future of cannabis legalization in the state of New York, both chambers of the state legislature have included legalization language in their annual budget proposals.
While state lawmakers in New York continue to explore the intricacies of legalizing and regulating adult-use marijuana, Brooklyn DA’s Office is moving forward with an initiative to expunge low-level marijuana convictions from criminal records.
As a result of the ongoing conflict between state and federal marijuana laws, tens of thousands of low-income medical marijuana patients around the country are at risk of losing their homes. If approved by Congress, the Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act would protect medical marijuana patients who are in compliance with state laws from being denied access to federally assisted housing.
A state-commissioned study released today by the New York Department of Health recommends replacing cannabis criminalization with a policy of adult use legalization. It concludes, “A regulated marijuana program enjoys broad support and would have significant health, social justice, and economic benefits.”
A forthcoming report commissioned by the Governor’s office is set to recommend that lawmakers legalize and regulate the possession and sale of marijuana by adults.
African Americans in the city of Buffalo (population 257,000) are disproportionately arrested for low-level marijuana possession offenses, according to an analysis of arrest data by the advocacy group Partnership for the Public Good. “[T]he disparities in the number of marijuana possession arrests cannot be explained by a higher use among black or Hispanic people,” authors concluded. “Legalizing marijuana would reduce low-level drug arrests by ten percent, and help reduce racial disparities in overall arrest numbers.”