New York Legalization Update: Governor’s Equity Plans Revealed

In an unprecedented move, New York State plans to issue the first 100 licenses of its recreational cannabis program to individuals with marijuana-related beliefs or to individuals who have a family member with a cannabis-related conviction.

The state is also likely to give these new licensees $200 million to help them get their businesses up and running, with a focus on covering real estate costs.

The New York Cannabis Control Board will meet tomorrow, March 10th, to discuss and vote on the proposed policy. Insiders expect her goodbye. Lawmakers expect the $200 million in this year’s state budget to appear in April.

Majority Leader of New York State Assemblymen Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a prominent architect of the state’s legalization bill, told the New York Times, “It’s critical because it’s a huge industry that’s going to be a huge boost to our economy.” , and I think it makes sense to let that growth start with New Yorkers,” she added.

New York’s diverse drug arrest history

The policy aims to correct the egregious and highly racist impact of the War on Drugs on New York’s communities. For example, as reported by Leafly, a 2018 study concluded that between 2010 and 2017 in New York City, police arrested eight times as many blacks and Latinx as whites.

The study found that police in East Harlem were 13 times more likely to arrest people for cannabis than in the adjacent neighborhood, the Upper East Side.

New York’s legalization law, which former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law last March, requires that half of all marijuana-related licenses — not just retailers, but growers and all components of the industry — must go to people who “disproportionately lived in communities affected by the War on Drugs and other underrepresented groups, including minority and women-owned businesses, distressed farmers and businesses owned by war veterans.”

While many cannabis reform advocates in New York support the new policy, some have concerns.

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Medical cannabis from New York, approved for “any” condition a doctor recommends

A member of the Empire State NORML board of directors, Ryan Lepore – who is also a co-founder and former director of NYC NORML – said that “old” illegal market operators who don’t necessarily qualify for the new licenses could end up in the Abandoned.

“People are quite happy that decent solutions are being presented. But there are still many things that are not addressed [like the status of legacy operators]’ he told Leafly.

Lepore said he’s also hearing from voters who believe lawmakers should spend the $200 million differently or that it’s just too much money. “Some people would say that’s a steep price to pay when there are other departments that are in place and economic development funds that could be tapped,” he noted.

Some industry insiders, he added, have argued that lawmakers should spend the money on educational opportunities and “incubators that could get people into this industry as soon as possible.”

Max Savage Levenson

Max Savage Levenson probably has the lowest cannabis tolerance of any author on the cannabis beat. He also writes about music for Pitchfork, Bandcamp and other bespectacled people. He is the co-host of the Hash podcast. His dream interview is Tyler the Creator.

Check out Max Savage Levenson’s articles

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