Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he will sign the measure.
Published 2 weeks ago
Written by BET Staff
Democratic lawmakers in New York passed a marijuana legalization measure on March 30 that may expunge the felony drug records of thousands of people.
Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, the Assembly majority leader in Albany, hopes the measure will combat the war on drugs, which is essentially a war on Black and Brown people. A 2020 study of marijuana arrests by the NYPD found 94% were of Black or Hispanic people.
"It's been horrible," Peoples-Stokes told NPR. "This specific war on drugs dismantled a huge chunk of our population."