The health commissioner’s comments reflect a growing consensus among New York government officials. Last month, the New York Democratic Party adopted a resolution that endorsed that regulation and taxation of recreational marijuana.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has made statements revealing an evolution in his views on cannabis reform in recent weeks. The governor, who formerly referred to marijuana as a “gateway drug,” said the “facts changed on this issue and the facts changed quickly.”
New York might be getting a step closer to legalizing marijuana.
The state health department has completed its much-anticipated study into the legalization of the drug, but as of the time of this writing it has not been released.
Sources said Tuesday that the study — which Gov. Andrew Cuomo commissioned earlier this year — highlights the benefits of legalization on criminal justice reforms and a tax on the drug, but it stops short of fully endorsing the legalization.
With attendees like Cynthia Nixon -- of "Sex and the City" fame and a Democratic challenger to Gov. Andrew Cuomo -- the annual Cannabis Parade took place in Manhattan's Union Square on Saturday.
While Nixon has been vocal about her desire to legalize marijuana, there were 300 others who took part in the event.
Marchers held signs with slogans, like "pot power," and chanted sayings, such as "legalize don't demonize."
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo seems to have softened his anti-legalization position, remarking during a stop in Brooklyn that “the situation has changed dramatically” on legal cannabis, asking “do you not legalize it when it is legal 10 miles from both sides of your border?”
“You have states that have legalized it now…. It is no longer a question of legal or illegal. It’s legal in Massachusetts. It may be legal in New Jersey. Which means for all intents and purposes it’s going to be here anyway.”
The legalization of recreational marijuana in New Jersey seems imminent. And with pot legalization already set to go into effect in Massachusetts and Vermont on July 1, New York could very soon find itself in a precarious situation: one in which three of its five neighboring states have legalized cannabis.