In the weeds on pot legalization

Recreational marijuana use is already legal in 11 states and the District of Columbia. New York is close behind, but there’s gritty legislative work left to do.

The general need for this shift is clear. New Yorkers favor marijuana legalization by double-digit margins, according to Siena College polls this year. Marijuana has become accessible by car: Empire State residents can already drive to Massachusetts and buy legal weed.

New York has been home to hundreds of thousands of marijuana arrests and summonses over the last two decades. Studies show that people of different races use the drug at roughly similar levels, yet black and brown New Yorkers are far more likely to face prosecution and other consequences. This is one of the reasons possession of small amounts was decriminalized here last year.

Lack of legalization also means lost tax dollars — perhaps $300 million annually, according to an estimate from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo — and an industry that remains underground. Many New Yorkers already get high. They’re just doing it on a black-market product, or one bought legally elsewhere. Criminal gangs benefit. Public health campaigns don’t.

This is the context in which Albany is considering legislation to regulate and tax cannabis. The bad news is that it’s being done too much out of public view.

Path ahead

Full marijuana legalization came close to passing last year as Democrats took full control in Albany. This year, the issue seems to be caught up in thorny budget negotiations.

The complexity of the issue demands a public and transparent process.

Consider just a few of the complications involved. How should the state keep weed out of the hands of minors — a key component given concerns about the drug’s effect on young people’s development? What to do with child-attractive edibles like gummy bears? How to prevent youth-focused advertising? How much should a dose cost? How much weed should residents be able to grow? What if they want to put some plants on public land? Also, public health campaigns need to be set up, and labs will be needed for product testing.

And comparatively speaking, those may be the easy parts. The issues that have proved most divisive between the State Assembly and Cuomo have been where the tax revenue goes and who gets to profit from the businesses. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie of the Bronx wants a large percentage of the tax revenue invested in communities that were negatively impacted by the war on drugs. The whiplash between jailing someone on a street corner for selling a joint and cutting ribbons at a fancy weed shop is significant. Cuomo’s plan has elements of this concept, proposing community grants and help for someone convicted of marijuana-related offenses to enter the newly legal industry. But he doesn’t want the new revenue source to be as constrained.

The communities that suffered through the drug war should receive some funding commitment, but this should not mean token help. Workforce development, for example, would be helpful. Big politically connected businesses shouldn’t get all the permits, even if a “social equity applicant” or two is named on a license.

Key issues for the Island

There are other issues that are particularly crucial for Long Island, like traffic safety. We are all in peril if legal weed means more driving under the influence. Crashes involving impaired drivers already take many lives on Long Island roads. A reliable, mechanical test similar to and as consistent as the breathalyzers used to test suspected drunken drivers isn’t yet available. Criminal charges will rely on the observations of arresting officers, making it a more complex process. And it’s unclear what level of THC in the blood indicates impairment for drivers.

The Cuomo cannabis proposal includes a pilot program toward a roadside detection method, prohibitions on use in motor vehicles, plus more training for officers and legal tweaks that mean a driver who refuses refusing a field assessment will receive penalties.

Lawmakers should be ready to modify the law if enforcement is a problem and the roads become unsafe.

This and other key issues appear to be under consideration in Albany. But the State Senate and Assembly haven’t released final versions of their bills. That’s a bad practice generally but on an issue this complicated, it’s unconscionable.

These bills have been knocking around for a while and some questions are getting answered. But there has not been sufficient airing of the details. We know what can happen when broad-brush legislation emerges from the Albany meat grinder, like the flaws in landmark bail and evidence-sharing reform last year. The overall reforms were right, but some details are now being considered.

That’s what could happen if a bill of this magnitude gets finalized in the waning hours of the budget process scheduled to end by April 1.

Albany must get serious. Slow down and do this right — and out in the open.

— The editorial board