https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-24/deal-reached-to-fast-track-legalizing-marijuana-in-new-york?srnd=premium-canada Some highlights below. Sales start as soon as one year
Sales could begin as soon as one year after enactment, said Krueger, who sponsored legislation (A.1248/S.854) with Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D) that was a starting point for the negotiations.
With New Jersey legalizing marijuana earlier this year, “we are literally surrounded geographically by other states that are doing it. We just need to stay ahead of the times,” Peoples-Stokes said in an interview. “Because we’re New Yorkers, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can speed this up.”
Cuomo earlier Wednesday said an agreement was close, and that it’s one of his budget priorities. Krueger said she expects lawmakers to vote on stand-alone legislation as soon as next week.
Legislative leaders want to separate the marijuana and budget debates, a strategy that gives them the upper hand on determining pot policy.
Neighborhood Programs.
The proposed recreational marijuana tax structure is similar to the one levied on alcohol, Krueger said.
Tax revenue would first go to covering cannabis-related expenses at state agencies overseeing the regulation of cannabis, with the rest divided among programs to help people rebuild their lives after marijuana possession arrests; to help neighborhoods; education; and drug treatment.
“We understand the ramifications of decades of incarceration of a people that actually ends up costing us, as a government, money,” Peoples-Stokes said. “This community reinvestment could reverse that whole dynamic. We could reinvest in people’s lives.”
Putting those programs into the legalization law will mean that Cuomo wouldn’t be able to count on that burst of new revenue to close a $2.5 billion budget hole anticipated in the next fiscal year.
Corporate Advantage.
Companies with medical marijuana licenses could have an advantage over newcomers when new York opens up to recreational use.
There are 10, five of which are among the U.S.’s largest multi-state operators; Acreage Holdings, Columbia Care, Cresco Labs, Curaleaf, and Green Thumb Industries.