22 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 1, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
THE QUEENS
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Story: Flushing Skyview Center seeks artists to
create artwork for digital displays
Summary: The Shops at Skyview Center in
Flushing is seeking local artists from the New York
metropolitan area to create digital static image and
video artwork for two interior and exterior screens.
Reach: 4,714 (as of 03/29/21)
Up to speed on legal weed
It took a global pandemic
that exposed great economic
suff ering and inequality
in New York for the Empire
State to fully legalize
marijuana.
State lawmakers and
embattled Governor
Andrew Cuomo announced
an agreement last weekend
and the New York state
Legislature on Tuesday
passed a bill legalizing recreational
use of marijuana
for adults ages 21 and older,
setting up an outline for
how this dramatic change
will work for the state, the
economy and its people.
For years now, medicinal
marijuana has been legal
in New York — though it’s
been speculated that the
main reason why recreational
use wasn’t permitted
earlier was not due to
health concerns, but rather
because no government
wants to green-light
a new drug industry, even
if the cash injections of
taxing this drug would be
gargantuan.
Obviously, there’s new
momentum behind
Cuomo’s plan. Th e state
is thinking green here
— as in dollar bills, not
marijuana leaves.
Although the American
Rescue Plan has been
received favorably, states
have bled so much money
during the COVID-19
pandemic that every taxable
industry conceivable
should be fully annexed,
lest our essential services
go up in smoke.
We want to recover better,
faster and stronger.
Decriminalizing marijuana
helps accomplish that goal
on a variety of levels.
Legalization shift s police
resources to other things
and will help free thousands
of New Yorkers wrongly
jailed for minor off enses.
A signifi cant excise tax
for marijuana purchases will
pump billions of dollars in
new cash into the state economy
over the next decade.
Moreover, the approved
plan also incorporates the
desire for weed-seller licenses
to go to women and
minority populations. Let’s
be honest: an ounce of the
green stuff is going to rake
in a hell of a lot more profi t
that the gumball mom-andpops
of yore. Th ere’s great
economic opportunity here
that cannot be wasted.
Public safety questions
abound, and perhaps the
biggest concern is for the
streets. How will police be
able to stop drivers who are
under the infl uence of marijuana
from getting behind
the wheel?
The plans call for a
research study to develop
better methodologies to
detect cannabis-impaired
drivers, and additional
funding for drug recognition
and law enforcement
experts to help keep the
streets safe.
But with those questions
unanswered, there will likely
be inconsistent policing and
enforcement of the rules.
While it’s high time for
marijuana to be legalized in
New York, there is much to
do to ensure its legalization
works out for the best.
Photo by Blair Gable/REUTERS
Decriminalizing marijuana can help New York recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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