The governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania met in New York City Thursday to try to hash out a multi-state approach to legalizing the adult recreational use of marijuana.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the governors are trying to adopt a unified approach to legalization to avoid their residents crossing borders and going to other states where the laws might be more expansive or the taxes might be lower.
“There is a desire to do this. I believe the people of this state and our surrounding states have a desire to do it. But the old expression the devil is in the details, how you do this makes all the difference,” Cuomo said. “It can be a positive if done right, it can be a negative if it is not done correctly.”
New York legislators proposed bills in 2019 to legalize recreational cannabis, but could not provide enough yes votes to pass the measure before the session concluded in June. Connecticut Governor Lamont also failed to get state lawmakers to pass recreational marijuana legislation.
After the meeting, the governors said in a statement that they came up with some core principles, including researching the experiences of other states that have legalized cannabis, and adopting the best practices.