POLITICS
Reform Advocates Praise Marijuana Legalization
The law will expunge weed-related offenses of up to three ounces
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Organizations advocating
for drug policy reform
in New York State are
praising the legalization
of recreational marijuana.
After passing the State Senate
with a 40-23 vote and in the State
Assembly by a 100-49 margin,
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed
the “Marijuana Legalization and
Taxation Act,” which allows New
Yorkers 21 years or older to possess
up to three ounces in public
and up to fi ve pounds of marijuana
at home.
Folks will be able to grow up to
a dozen marijuana plants at once,
but the regulations are still being
hashed out.
Under the new law, individuals
cannot be targeted for smelling like
cannabis — and it is legal to smoke
it anywhere that it is legal to smoke
tobacco. Plus, certain weed-related
convictions are immediately getting
expunged.
In recognition of the long history
of unfair treatment targeting Black
and Latinx communities, the law
stipulates that 40 percent of state
cannabis tax revenue be reinvested
in communities of color, according
to the New York Times.
Advocates have long pointed
to the ways in which the criminalization
of marijuana harmed
Black and brown New Yorkers.
VOCAL-NY, a grassroots that advocates
on behalf of people living
with HIV/AIDS and fi ghts the
drug war, mass incarceration, and
homelessness, praised the legislation’s
outcome on Twitter, stating
it has “strong racist justice language”
and is one of the “strongest
marijuana legalization bills in the
country.”
While Governor Cuomo approved
the measure, advocates
note that he opposed weed legalization
in the past. In 2017, he
told reporters marijuana was a
“gateway drug” and he was “unconvinced
on recreational marijuana.”
The following year, he
changed his tune.
“Decriminalization stalled for
Recreational marijuana was legalized in New York on March 31.
years as Senate Republicans and
Governor Cuomo refused to move it
forward,” VOCAL-NY tweeted. “But
our campaign raised marijuana as
a key racial justice issue, and we
won local commitments to reduce
arrests in NYC.”
In a statement, the Drug Policy
Alliance, a New York-based group
focused on drug legalization, said
the bill’s passage is a sign of progress.
“A new era for marijuana justice
is here,” Melissa Moore, director of
New York’s Drug Policy Alliance,
said in a written statement. “After
years of hard work against long
odds, New York has enacted one
of the most ambitious marijuana
legalization programs in the country.
Let’s be clear — the Marijuana
Regulation and Taxation Act is an
outright victory for the communities
hit hardest by the failed war
on drugs.”
Moore added, “By placing community
reinvestment, social equity,
and justice front and center,
this law is the new gold standard
for reform efforts nationwide. Today
we celebrate, tomorrow we
work hard to make sure this law
is implemented fairly and justly for
all New Yorkers.”
For some lawmakers, the issue
of criminalization hits close to
home.
State Senator Jabari Brisport,
who is the fi rst out LGBTQ Black
member of the New York State Legislature,
REUTERS/CLIFF DESPEAUX
told a public radio station
in Rochester, New York, that
he was almost killed over the drug
as a teenager. Brisport was hanging
out with a friend in lower Manhattan
when a plainclothes offi cer
accused his friend of being a drug
dealer.
“When I asked the offi cer to
show a badge or read my friend
his rights, he pulled out his gun,
pointed it directly at my face,
and told me to back up,” Brisport
said. “A plainclothes police offi cer
nearly shot me in the face over
weed.”
He added, “How many would-be
future state senators have been
accidental casualties of the war on
drugs?”
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