New York is on the brink of legalizing recreational marijuana, after years of failed attempts and stalled efforts.
Officials finalized a deal this week to legalize the drug for adults 21 and older and move toward the creation of a potential $4.2 billion industry that could become one of the nation’s largest markets.
If the measure is successful, New York would become the 15th state to permit the drug for recreational use.
Is recreational marijuana legal in New York?
Not yet.
The final details of the legislation were still being reviewed Thursday, but state lawmakers had reached an agreement with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. A bill could pass the Democratic-controlled State Legislature as soon as next week.
What would legalization mean for New Yorkers?
New Yorkers would be allowed to possess up to three ounces of cannabis for recreational use. Club-like lounges or “consumption sites” where marijuana — but not alcohol — could be consumed would also be permitted, according to details of the plan obtained by The New York Times.
The police could use the smell of marijuana as a reason to suspect a driver is under the influence, but could not use the odor as the primary justification to search a vehicle.
Under the deal, the Health Department would study emerging devices that could potentially allow officers to use a saliva test to detect whether a driver is high.
And for medical marijuana patients in particular?
The state’s existing medical marijuana program, first legalized in 2014, would undergo several changes aimed at making it less restrictive.
The list of medical conditions covered would be significantly widened and would include Alzheimer’s disease and muscular dystrophy, according to one lawmaker. Patients would no longer be restricted from smoking medical marijuana, and the current 30-day cap on supply for patients would also be doubled.
Medical marijuana companies would be allowed to enter the more lucrative recreational market under certain circumstances, a measure they aggressively lobbied for.
Would it be legal to grow marijuana at home?
Yes. For recreational purposes, users could cultivate plants at home, indoors or outdoors — maximum of twelve plants total per household. They would not be allowed to do so, however, until 18 months after the first adult-use dispensary opens.
Medical marijuana patients, or their designated caregivers, could also grow the plants, starting six months after the bill becomes law.
When would legal marijuana sales begin?
The timeline for dispensaries to open and sales to kick off remains distant. It’s probably more than a year out.
Officials must first determine how the industry will operate, from the regulation and taxation of sales to the allocation of licenses for cultivators, processors, wholesalers, retailers and delivery services.
What disparities is this bill designed to correct?
One 2018 analysis by The New York Times found that Hispanic people across New York City had been arrested on low-level marijuana charges at five times the rates of white people in recent years.
The imbalance was even starker for Black people, who in Manhattan were arrested at 15 times the rate of white people.
But surveys have shown that Black and white people use marijuana at similar rates. And in neighborhoods where people called to make complaints about marijuana at similar rates, arrests were almost always made at a higher rate in the area with more Black residents.
Officials hope the deal will help put an end to those disparities.
Millions of dollars in tax revenue from sales would be reinvested each year in communities affected by racially disproportionate policing on drugs.
And a significant portion of business licenses would be reserved for minority business owners.
What happens to those with marijuana convictions?
People with marijuana-related convictions for activity that is no longer criminalized could have their records automatically expunged.
There is some precedent for such a move: In 2019, more than 150,000 people with some low-level marijuana convictions in New York had them cleared from their records.
Why did this take so long?
Mr. Cuomo and Democrats in the State Legislature tried several times to legalize marijuana in recent years. But each time, efforts unraveled.
In 2019, for example, the plan for legalization collapsed as disagreements over how to regulate the industry and how revenue dollars should be controlled, along with hesitation from moderate lawmakers, could not be overcome.
Mr. Cuomo vowed last January — and again this year — to finally push the bill over the line.
The efforts recently gained momentum, however, when they received a boost amid Mr. Cuomo’s recent scandals. Striking a deal for legalization became a higher priority for the governor, several lawmakers and lobbyists believe, as he sought to shift attention away from his compounding crises.
The new dynamic prompted Mr. Cuomo’s team to concede on many issues they had previously held the line on, such as how the tax revenue would be distributed, leading to a deal that more closely reflected Democratic lawmakers’ wishes.
What about other states?
More than a dozen other states and Washington, D.C., have taken similar steps.
In New Jersey, Gov. Philip D. Murphy signed into law three bills last month that permit and regulate the use of recreational marijuana. It became the most populous state in the Northeast to opt for legalization.
Penalties for underage possession were also eased, with written warnings and referrals to community services instead of harsh fines or criminal punishments.
Legal sales in New Jersey, however, remain at least several months away.
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