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click to enlarge On Wednesday, March 31, New York officially became the 15th state to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults. It s been a long time coming. The bill that Governor Andrew Cuomo signed that day the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, or MRTA was originally introduced by Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) in 2013, and had been reintroduced every session since by Krueger and Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D-Buffalo), picking up cosponsors and popular support every year. It seemed like legalization might get over the hump in 2019, but complex demands from different reformist factions, a lack of commitment to community reinvestment by Cuomo, and vocal opposition by police unions and out-of-state groups ultimately doomed the effort.
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[Editor s Note: Since publication, New York State has legalized recreational marijuana, opening the doors for a flood of adjacent industries, and embracing some of the most progressive criminal justice reforms associated with the legalization movement.]
On February 18, Chronogram Media teamed up with Etain to host Legal Weed is Coming, a virtual event with a diverse panel of policy influencers, growers, and dispensary owners. The event, held on Zoom, brought together over 150 audience members for a lively discussion on what legalization of recreational marijuana might look like in New York and the possibility of legislation becoming law this spring. Panelists included Hillary Peckham, COO of Etain; Meg Sanders, CEO of Canna Provisions; Marcus Williams, vice president of Community Growth Partners at Rebelle; Melissa Moore, New York State director of Drug Policy Alliance (pictured above); Andi Novick, president of Small Farma Ltd.; and Gail Hepworth,
Cannabis and the Empire State Last Updated: 02/10/2021 2:48 pm Marijuana flower at Etain s growing facility in Chestertown. Currently licensed in New York to grow and sell medical marijuana, Etain is well positioned to enter the recreational cannabis market. Persistence pays off in politics, and as Governor Cuomo prepares to present a recreational cannabis bill in the upcoming legislative session for the third time in his tenure, the feeling in Albany is that it will happen this time around. Approximately 1.3 million people across the state consume THC-based products (the stuff that gets you high think Cheech and Chong; big, stinky buds). A poll conducted by Spectrum News of Albany and IPSOS Global in October found that 61 percent of respondents favored the legalization of recreational cannabis. In 2018, residents of New York City consumed an estimated 77 tons of cannabis flower more than any ot
The greenhouse at The Pass in Sheffield, Massachussets, a vertically integrated growhouse and dispensary. As cannabis increasingly becomes available nationwide for both medical and recreational use, New York State, where the plant is currently decriminalized, is likely to be among the next states to join one of the least understood, and at times controversial, socioeconomic booms of the century to date legal cannabis. But how this landscape will appear, and what New Yorkers can come to expect from legalized cannabis should it occur, is difficult to predict. Each state has its own set of regulations, few of which are universally consistent. However, with nationwide legalization entering the second half of its first decade, and the recent passing of New York Senate Bill S6184A, defining the growth and distribution of industrial hemp in the state, patterns and expectations are beginning to emerge that New Yorkers can learn from.