Cuomo directs panel to draft recreational marijuana legislation

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Thursday directed a panel to draft legislation to allow recreational marijuana use in New York.

A law that would allow the open sale of marijuana could be enacted in the legislative session beginning in January, Cuomo said.

“We must thoroughly consider all aspects of a regulated marijuana program, including its impact on public health, criminal justice and state revenue, and mitigate any potential risks associated with it,” Cuomo said.

In 2014, New York legalized marijuana for medical use with a prescription after a long lobbying fight in Albany and after 22 other states had already approved use of marijuana for medical treatments.

Cuomo, a former prosecutor and attorney general, had long been opposed to recreational use of marijuana. As recently as February 2017 he called it “a gateway drug . . . marijuana leads to other drugs and there’s a lot of proof that’s true.”

But Cuomo directed the state Health Department in January 2018 to make a decision and in July the department found the positive aspects outweighed the negative. Now, Cuomo is directing a working group of health officials, physicians, law enforcement leaders and tax experts to find a way to allow the sale of marijuana for recreational use in New York.

Cuomo’s position to legalize marijuana comes as he faces challenges from the left. Since April, activist and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon has called for legalizing recreational marijuana. In part, she said, marijuana laws have been, in practice, unenforced in white communities for decades while the law was enforced strictly in minority communities.

"After Cynthia announced her support for legalization, the governor flipped and embraced the issue too. But unlike Cynthia, the Governor doesn't support legalization because it's a racial justice issue; he likes it because it allows him to distract from bad news,” said Nixon spokeswoman Lauren Hitt in an email. She cited two corruption trials this year that resulted in convictions against two longtime Cuomo associates and involved some of his biggest economic development projects. Cuomo wasn’t accused of wrongdoing.

Cuomo’s working group will be headed by his counsel, Alphonso David, and will work with the State Senate and Assembly majorities in crafting legislation that could be passed and signed into law.

The Senate’s Republican majority has been opposed to such measures, and the Assembly’s Democratic majority has sought to ease marijuana laws. The Republicans, if they continue to hold the majority after the November elections, could block any legalization of marijuana.

“Our Senate majority is focused on making Long Island more affordable for hardworking taxpayers, helping businesses create new and good paying jobs, and keeping families and communities safe from the threat of MS-13 and the heroin epidemic,” said Scott Reif, spokesman for the Senate Republicans. “Let the governor and the New York City Democrats focus on legalizing drugs. Affordability, opportunity, security — those are our priorities.”

Cuomo is also being challenged for re-election by former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, who is running on the Serve America Movement line. Miner supports legalizing marijuana, said her spokeswoman, Rachel Barnhart.

Republican nominee Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.