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Law New York

New York Gov. Cuomo says it's 'not likely' recreational marijuana will be legalized in New York's budget this year as the coronavirus outbreak is the focus in Albany


New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that legalizing recreational marijuana likely won't be included in the state's budget, dealing a blow to the cannabis industry companies that have invested a significant amount of time, money, and resources preparing for the rush of the state's millions of adult consumers into the legalized market.
Cuomo was asked by a reporter on Tuesday about marijuana legalization — one of the key initiatives he laid out in his budget address on January 21 — in his daily press briefing on the state's coronavirus response.

"It's not likely," Cuomo said. "Too much, too little time."

The New York state budget is due on April 1. The state legislature must approve the package before midnight.
In normal times, the state budget is seen by lawmakers as a way to eschew the traditional, intensive process that bills must go through to become law by forcing key issues into the budget.

Last week, Cuomo said he was still intent on legalizing marijuana through the budget, but those priorities have shifted as confirmed cases of coronavirus and deaths mount in New York state. New York City has emerged as the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic in recent days, with one person dying as a result of the virus approximately every six minutes.

New York exceeded 75,000 cases on Tuesday, with 1,550 deaths — up from 1,218 on Monday, Cuomo said.
New York state Democrats had tried to put adult-use cannabis legalization in last year's budget, but negotiations broke down shortly before the deadline over how the tax revenue from marijuana sales would be spent.

Many in the cannabis industry were hopeful New York would pass legalization this year. Legalizing adult-use cannabis would provide a rare positive tailwind for an industry that has seen a wave of layoffs and executive turnover, and had the market caps of some of its most visible companies slashed by over 90% in recent months.
Justin Flagg, the spokesperson for Sen. Liz Krueger, who, along with Rep. Crystal Peoples-Stokes, is one of the key voices on marijuana legalization in the New York state assembly, told Cannabis Wire the "plan B remains the same."

"If it can't get done in the budget in the middle of a public health crisis that is also a fiscal crisis, there is no reason the legislature can't negotiate and pass a nation-leading legalization model when the immediate crisis is over," Flagg said.

Cannabis is legal for adults over the age of 21 in 11 states, and a total of 33 states have some form of medical cannabis access on the books.
 
New York Lawmakers Want to Legalize Marijuana via Zoom

Marijuana legalization in New York seemed impossible this year. Recently, Governor Cuomo said the pandemic is the state’s main priority right now. He also said that a decision like marijuana legalization shouldn’t be made quickly. As a result, delaying marijuana legalization was a wise decision. However, lawmakers have been looking at other options. They want to discuss and make the legalization decision remotely through online discussions. Governor Cuomo said that the process would be too complicated.
New York lawmakers want to legalize marijuana
The marijuana legalization topic might not have ended completely in New York. A Marijuana Moment article discussed that Governor Cuomo thinks that lawmakers might look to pass the legislation remotely. Remote legalization could happen by using Zoom—an online video conferencing software company.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the global economy. All of the industries have been suffering. Most businesses have either come to a standstill or face huge losses. The government has instructed everyone to stay at home and work from home. Zoom Video Communications’ meeting app and video conferencing are in demand for meetings across the globe.
However, Governor Cuomo thinks that marijuana is a complex topic to discuss remotely. As a result, he advised against remote voting.
At a press conference, he said, “As far as getting into a very complex issue that requires real analysis and real data and trying to do that on Zoom conferences, I don’t know that that’s the best way to do it, but that’s up to them also.”
We don’t know yet if remote discussions will be possible. Now, New York is looking at other options. The legalization measure was a hot topic year in New York and many other states. If there wasn’t a pandemic, more states would have been moving forward with their cannabis legalization plans. However, many states have had to opt-out. Some states like Arizona and South Dakota have successfully collected the required signatures for their marijuana campaigns. Meanwhile, Missouri dropped its campaign. Even Mexico’s legalization prospects looked really good this year. However, Mexico might not be able to legalize cannabis this year due to the pandemic. To know more, read Marijuana Legalization in Mexico Isn’t Likely in 2020.
Industry’s performance
Meanwhile, the marijuana industry is performing well in April due to a rise in cannabis demand and sales. Will the performance be enough to help the industry recover from the financial losses? Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC)(TSE:WEED), Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON), and Aphria (NYSE:APHA) might be able to sustain the short-term challenges. Despite having a financial backup, Canopy Growth is closing its facilities. To learn more, read Canopy Growth to Exit Africa, Close Another Canadian Facility.
The rollercoaster ride continues in the cannabis industry. On April 20, Aphria closed with a loss of 4.44%, while OrganiGram closed 1.26% lower. Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB), Cronos Group, and Canopy Growth stock closed with gains of 3.3%, 1.4%, and 0.46%, respectively.
 
As long as they don’t screw it up by adding too high of a sales tax and all the other taxes slapped on.
Ah, Carol....we are talking about NY here, right! ;-). Hahaha
 
We could put things in place for home delivery and sort out the 'social equity' before working out who gets to open a dispensary until later. Growing plants would be the perfect project to do while isolating. :twocents:
 
We could put things in place for home delivery and sort out the 'social equity' before working out who gets to open a dispensary until later. Growing plants would be the perfect project to do while isolating. :twocents:
Past drafts of the NY Bill have specifically excluded home grows and flower. Cu o o ha stone a decent job dealing with COVID-19, but he’ll fuck up Cannabis legalization if presented the opportunity. Not sure I get the no home grow thing. I mean I know he wants no home grows as he wants all the revenue, but that will exclude garden and hydroponic stores from a potential market. Most people will take a swag at growing and give up, it’s more work than many realize. #fuckcuomo.
 
Past drafts of the NY Bill have specifically excluded home grows and flower.
Sen Liz Kruger's bill allows for 6 plants per household. The MJ Zsar of NY created guidelines for growing medical by patients in Rhoad Island
when he worked there. The Guv was about to visit other legal states and study their policies and get out of his bubble. Just before the Covid hit.

Conversely, His first proposal was to charge tax per gram for every farmer. :disgust: And he was formerly Anti-legalization a year earlier. Plus implementing the worst Medical program in the country. Talk about a 3 ring circus.

He does dither and try to make policy with the border states, even though Massachusetts and Vermont have already moved forward. And his lack of faith that the senators can put their heads together via ZOOM.

But with the current economic concerns and that some states have implemented some sort of 'social equity' into their program. He might be forced to hit the reset on the matter and keep his clown shoes at home. :biggrin:
 
Now, I should think that you all know I'm a rabid advocate for MJ legalization. No caveats there.

But, this example from NY (and its not just NY) continues to support my views that our professional political class has no actual positions or values and will "pivot" to support almost anything that generates tax revenue that they can spend to burnish their credentials with whatever special interest group that they are interested in attracting as voters to perpetuate their career.

Now, the headline is about boosting the economy, but IMO the real story is:

Tax revenue, job creation and a de-burdening on our criminal justice system are now needed more than ever."​
Never once do you see budget reduction as a solution to overspending and not having enough money to cover their commitments. Just the way it is in USA 2020.

N.Y. lawmakers call for cannabis reform to boost post-pandemic economy

The coronavirus pandemic halted any chance New York had at passing cannabis reform earlier this year, but lawmakers have reintroduced the idea as a way to kick-start the economy once a semblance of normalcy returns.

In May, New York state Sens. Jessica Ramos, Jamaal Bailey and Brad Hoylman, in conjunction with the Legal Aid Society, urged Governor Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers to legalize recreational marijuana.

In a press release, the lawmakers stated that tax revenue from legal cannabis could alleviate growing budget concerns in New York. The state currently holds a US$13 billion deficit and Cuomo recently announced the state needs US$61 billion in federal aid to avoid “devastating” cuts to New York schools, police departments, hospitals and more.

“It’s not enough to say the state doesn’t have money. We have to find it,” Ramos told The New York Post. “I believe legalizing marijuana can help.”

Cuomo has advocated strongly in favour of cannabis legalization over the past year, though his efforts to legalize through the state budget earlier this year fell short. Differences in opinions about how marijuana-generated tax revenue should be allocated appeared reconcilable in March, but then the coronavirus outbreak hit New York. With an Apr. 1 deadline looming, lawmakers focused on passing a workable budget to keep the state running amid the pandemic.
During a recent press conference, Cuomo was asked why he hasn’t pushed marijuana legalization or sports betting as economic kick-starters over federal aid. Cuomo objected to the characterization.
GettyImages-1132793708-e1586526034239.jpg

Legalization advocates agree with Cuomo’s sentiment, although they still pushed for legal marijuana as an immediate solution instead of a problem for later. / Photo: sarayut / iStock / Getty Images Plus Photo: sarayut / iStock / Getty Images Plus

“It’s the federal government’s obligation as part of managing this national pandemic that they provide financial relief to state and local governments, just the way they took care of the big corporations,” Cuomo said. “I support legalization of marijuana passage,” he added. “I’ve worked very hard to pass it. I believe we will, but we didn’t get it done this last session because it’s a complicated issue and it has to be done in a comprehensive way.”

Legalization advocates agree with Cuomo’s sentiment, although they still pushed for legal marijuana as an immediate solution instead of a problem for later.
GettyImages-1048647788-scaled-2560.jpg

Tax revenue, job creation and a de-burdening on our criminal justice system are now needed more than ever. / Photo: Rawf8 / iStock / Getty Images Plus Rawf8 / iStock / Getty Images Plus

“Legalizing cannabis does not happen overnight, and the COVID-19 pandemic will likely continue to affect our society past 2020. The approval of a regulated cannabis program gets us closer to helping the communities that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and over-policing,” Ryan Lepore, deputy director of New York City NORML, told New York County Politics.

“Tax revenue, job creation and a de-burdening on our criminal justice system are now needed more than ever. So immediately implementing a legal cannabis program would align with the state’s ability to recover in the coming years post-COVID-19,” Lepore said.
 
"New York City, where I and 8.5 million others live, used to be the worst city in the United States to be caught with cannabis. This is no exaggeration.​
Under America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and later America’s anodyne business executive-turned-mayor Mike Bloomberg, NYPD arrested more people per capita for marijuana possession than any place else in the entire world"​

I'm certainly not going to comment on things in this article like "Nixonian police state" but I do think the author could benefit from a historical perspective longer that their apparent age. At one time, many DECADES ago, being caught selling MJ to a minor was an minimum of a life sentence.

I believe it was Abbie Hoffman who wrote in his book "Steal this Book" that if it looks like you are going to be caught selling a dime of weed to a minor, pull out a gun and kill them because you would only get 5-10 years for manslaughter vice life for dealing. Yes, an exaggeration but still....a bit of perspective would illuminate, I believe.

And this:

"Right now, the cannabis scene in New York is merely very stupid."​

No, its not stupid, its intentional and is a purposefully errected Potemkin Village ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village ) of a med program crafted purely to cover politicians asses and let them burnish their MJ positive image, while not actually providing a viable med program at all. Its total BS.

This quote, contained in the the article, is IMO more accurate:

“Currently, New York’s medical cannabis situation is a racket, and inaccessible for both the patient and entrepreneur,”​


Will New York Fix Medical Marijuana Before Rushing to Legalization? (Maybe Not!)


New York City, where I and 8.5 million others live, used to be the worst city in the United States to be caught with cannabis. This is no exaggeration.
Under America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and later America’s anodyne business executive-turned-mayor Mike Bloomberg, NYPD arrested more people per capita for marijuana possession than any place else in the entire world, as Alex Pareene observed in Salon back in 2015.

It could hardly be worse, but it is better now under Bill de Blasio (whose wife and children are Black, and thus still among the New Yorkers most at risk of getting arrested). Better, in that it’s not a Nixonian police state. Right now, the cannabis scene in New York is merely very stupid.

Medical cannabis is technically legal in New York, and has been since 2014. However, medical marijuana exists under restrictions so tight that legal cannabis medicine is functionally unavailable. Fewer than 125,000 people in the entire state are qualified to access it, according to NORML.

And when someone does find a doctor willing to certify them for a very serious illness and thus qualify for non-smokeable, non-flower cannabis, it is exorbitantly expensive. You can’t grow it at home, and only a select few businesses have a coveted license.

“Currently, New York’s medical cannabis situation is a racket, and inaccessible for both the patient and entrepreneur,” said Solonje Burnett, a Brooklyn-based CBD and cannabis educator and event planner.

This means most New Yorkers drive to Massachusetts to buy recreational weed—and still do, even in the pandemic—or continue to play the illicit market, where statewide decriminalization, which followed the district attorneys in Manhattan and Brooklyn saying they’d no longer prosecute possession, has triggered an explosion.
Even under COVID-19, it’s very easy to find high THC cannabis—and if that’s not your bag, it’s even easier to stroll into a corner store or neighborhood pharmacy and find, arranged as if this were a dispensary, CBD bud of dubious provenance.
Daily Life In New York City Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 05: A sign placed outside a CBD store in Murray Hill during the coronavirus ... [+] pandemic on May 5, 2020 in New York City, where you can buy CBD bud derived from hemp in stores--but not THC cannabis tested in a lab. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)
Weed is illegal. Weed is everywhere. This all works, for some people, sometimes, sort of, though nobody’s really satisfied—and after Gov. Andrew Cuomo declined to advance a legalization measure to the state Legislature in his budget package earlier this year, this isn’t changing anytime soon.
Last week, a group of New York state senators called on Cuomo to add legalization back to the conversation, a plea made out of naked and pure desperation. Since the state budget deficit is approaching $61 billion, thanks largely to the COVID-19-prompted halt of business in New York City, and some projections think the tax revenue on legal cannabis could hit $300 million, now might be a good time to start making money off of weed, the argument goes.
And this argument isn’t winning people over—as in, it’s not winning legalization supporters over.
“Legalization cannot be looked at as a quick bandaid to stop the current financial hemorrhaging,” Burnett added. Not for nothing: concerns over social justice quashed legalization last year, not opposition to weed.
“Cannabis is steeped in racial and economic injustice,” she said. “Any last-minute legalization in New York State must be human centered.”
Or, better yet—what if New York State just made medical cannabis more available? California seemed to do just fine with widely available medical cannabis. Patients got what they needed, the illicit market shrank, cities (and the state) made money. This is working just fine in Oklahoma—where, in Tulsa alone, there are four times as many cannabis dispensaries in all of New York State, according to Weedmaps.
The population of Tulsa is 400,669—or about one-seventh the population of Brooklyn. Oklahoma, by the way, is close to allowing out-of-state residents to acquire temporary medical-cannabis cards, meaning it will soon be easier, and more legal, to buy weed in Tulsa, Oklahoma than it is New York City.
Something is wrong here. Medical cannabis, as both concept and practical matter, is widely popular in the United States. Ninety-one percent of Americans think cannabis should be legal for medical use, according to the Pew Research Center. Weed is clearly popular in New York, as the illicit delivery services, shady CBD bodegas, and ubiquitous CBD popups demonstrate. Yet reforming New York’s all-but-unworkable medical cannabis laws isn’t even in the conversation.
 
No, its not stupid, its intentional and is a purposefully errected Potemkin Village ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village ) of a med program crafted purely to cover politicians asses and let them burnish their MJ positive image, while not actually providing a viable med program at all. Its total BS.
That's a sick burn @Baron23. And a well deserved criticism. :torching: Excellent post. :thumbsup:
 
Never once do you see budget reduction as a solution to overspending and not having enough money to cover their commitments. Just the way it is in USA 2020.
Baron, do you think if wages had kept pace with inflation over the past 30 years we would still be in this situation? I know it's not that simple, but our country and it's laws are very focused on success of corporations and their stockholders. Most of the stock market is captive by the very wealthy, while the working man supports Churches, Schools, Local, State and our Federal government who are all fighting massive deficits. Certainly there are other contributing factors, but I contented that had wages kept pace with inflation for the past 30 years the increased tax base would far better support these organizations. The working class has been squeezed far too much and most do not have any saving and live paystub to paystub. Heck, the poverty level is $~16K/year, who is able to live on that? Of those able to participate in 401(k) retirement plans only 42% actually do. COVID-19 is definitely brining much of this to light.

As to NY's legalization, unless as you point out they correct the nonsense and better follow a working precedent set by states like Colorado, NYers will continue to go to adjoining jurisdictions or support the black market to support their needs and the tax revenue will just not be there.
 
Baron, do you think if wages had kept pace with inflation over the past 30 years we would still be in this situation? I know it's not that simple, but our country and it's laws are very focused on success of corporations and their stockholders. Most of the stock market is captive by the very wealthy, while the working man supports Churches, Schools, Local, State and our Federal government who are all fighting massive deficits. Certainly there are other contributing factors, but I contented that had wages kept pace with inflation for the past 30 years the increased tax base would far better support these organizations. The working class has been squeezed far too much and most do not have any saving and live paystub to paystub. Heck, the poverty level is $~16K/year, who is able to live on that? Of those able to participate in 401(k) retirement plans only 42% actually do. COVID-19 is definitely brining much of this to light.

As to NY's legalization, unless as you point out they correct the nonsense and better follow a working precedent set by states like Colorado, NYers will continue to go to adjoining jurisdictions or support the black market to support their needs and the tax revenue will just not be there.
No, I don't think that's the problem. See the graphic below.

Nor do I think that stock market is captive by the very wealthy. Where do you think union pensions are invested???? The market. And now that most folks no longer have defined pension benefits, where do you think there 401K and IRA's are invested in.....mostly stock unless you don't mind less than a percent return on Fed Treasury bond, right now Fed 10 year bond returns .7%. This will not cover anybody's retirement.

Additionally, I do believe that much of the stock market's movement is related to automated trading programs run by various companies and not necessarily rich individuals.

No, I do think that much of NY, and other state's deficit, is from spending more than they take in...from making pie in the sky, something for nothing, promises to people that can't be kept aside from increasing debt with no end in site.

But yes, I do believe that working and middle class people are indeed being squeezed between low wages and inflation. No doubt....but I don't really see this as causative of huge deficit spending in many state (and Fed) level governments.

Just my hard headed view. :-)

1590968339102.png
 
See the graphic below.
Not very clear, I prefer this one which is also more recent; https://itep.org/who-pays-taxes-in-america-in-2019/
WPTIA-2019_Chart1.png


Nor do I think that stock market is captive by the very wealthy. Where do you think union pensions are invested???? The market. And now that most folks no longer have defined pension benefits, where do you think there 401K and IRA's are invested in.....mostly stock unless you don't mind less than a percent return on Fed Treasury bond, right now Fed 10 year bond returns .7%. This will not cover anybody's retirement.
Either your article or this one are wrong; https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/221/stock-market/how-does-the-stock-market-effect-the-economy-2/
 
Will New York Fix Medical Marijuana Before Rushing To Legalization? (Maybe Not)


New York City, where I and 8.5 million others live, used to be the worst city in the United States to be caught with cannabis. This is no exaggeration.
Under America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and later America’s anodyne business executive-turned-mayor Mike Bloomberg, NYPD arrested more people per capita for marijuana possession than any place else in the entire world, as Alex Pareene observed in Salon back in 2015.

Medical cannabis is technically legal in New York, and has been since 2014. However, medical marijuana exists under restrictions so tight that legal cannabis medicine is functionally unavailable. Fewer than 125,000 people in the entire state are qualified to access it, according to NORML.

And when someone does find a doctor willing to certify them for a very serious illness and thus qualify for non-smokeable, non-flower cannabis, it is exorbitantly expensive. You can’t grow it at home, and only a select few businesses have a coveted license.
“Currently, New York’s medical cannabis situation is a racket, and inaccessible for both the patient and entrepreneur,” said Solonje Burnett, a Brooklyn-based CBD and cannabis educator and event planner.

This means most New Yorkers drive to Massachusetts to buy recreational weed—and still do, even in the pandemic—or continue to play the illicit market, where statewide decriminalization, which followed the district attorneys in Manhattan and Brooklyn saying they’d no longer prosecute possession, has triggered an explosion.
Even under Covid-19, it’s very easy to find high THC cannabis—and if that’s not your bag, it’s even easier to stroll into a corner store or neighborhood pharmacy and find, arranged as if this were a dispensary, CBD bud of dubious provenance.

Weed is illegal. Weed is everywhere. This all works, for some people, sometimes, sort of, though nobody’s really satisfied—and after Gov. Andrew Cuomo declined to advance a legalization measure to the state legislature in his budget package earlier this year, this isn’t changing anytime soon.

Last week, a group of New York state senators called on Cuomo to add legalization back to the conversation, a plea made out of naked and pure desperation. Since the state budget deficit is approaching $61 billion, thanks largely to the COVID-19-prompted halt of business in New York City, and some projections think the tax revenue on legal cannabis could hit $300 million, now might be a good time to start making money off of weed, the argument goes.

And this argument isn’t winning people over—as in, it’s not winning legalization supporters over.

“Legalization cannot be looked at as a quick bandaid to stop the current financial hemorrhaging,” Burnett added. Not for nothing: concerns over social justice quashed legalization last year, not opposition to weed.

“Cannabis is steeped in racial and economic injustice,” she said. “Any last-minute legalization in New York State must be human centered.”

Or, better yet—what if New York State just made medical cannabis more available? California seemed to do just fine with widely available medical cannabis. Patients got what they needed, the illicit market shrank, cities (and the state) made money. This is working just fine in Oklahoma—where, in Tulsa alone, there are four times as many cannabis dispensaries in all of New York State, according to Weedmaps.

The population of Tulsa is 400,669—or about one-seventh the population of Brooklyn. Oklahoma, by the way, is close to allowing out-of-state residents to acquire temporary medical-cannabis cards, meaning it will soon be easier, and more legal, to buy weed in Tulsa, Oklahoma than it is New York City.

Something is wrong here. Medical cannabis, as both concept and practical matter, is widely popular in the United States. Ninety-one percent of Americans think cannabis should be legal for medical use, according to the Pew Research Center. Weed is clearly popular in New York, as the illicit delivery services, shady CBD bodegas, and ubiquitous CBD popups demonstrate. Yet reforming New York’s all-but-unworkable medical cannabis laws isn’t even in the conversation.
 

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