MJ moment

Marijuana legalization is an inevitability in New York, a top senator said on Monday, adding that the push is being bolstered by voter approval of cannabis reform next door in New Jersey. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) said during a press briefing that “it’s not so much a matter of if, it’s a matter of when and it’s a matter of how” the state legalizes marijuana for adult use. “The conversation has always been, what happens to the revenues?” she said. “How do we include disparately impacted communities in the economy of this industry? And how do we make sure that resources to this disparately impacted communities are gotten in those communities?” Watch the senator discuss marijuana below, starting around 21:30 into the video below:  The majority leader also touched on New Jersey’s recent move to legalize after voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum on the issue. She said the neighboring state “obviously had a hard time trying to figure that out and then they punted and then people said go do it and so now it’s back in their court,” referring to lawmakers’ putting the issue on the ballot via a referendum and now working to advance enabling legislation after the vote. Asked whether the New Jersey move adds impetus to New York’s effort, Stewart-Cousins said “I think that it certainly is a big piece of it, of course.” The remarks come as there’s increasing talk among key officials about a renewed effort to enact the policy change in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said earlier this month that the “pressure will be on” to legalize cannabis in the state and lawmakers will approve it “this year” to offset economic losses from the coronavirus pandemic. “You have such a [budget] gap now,” he said. “I think it’s going…

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Source : Marijuana Legalization Is Inevitable In New York, Especially After New Jersey Vote, Top Senator Says

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