New York Cannabis legislation

New York consumes more black market cannabis than any other in the world. It is a market of convenience, with couriers on bicycles or disguised as Uber drivers scouting the boroughs to turn a profit. The NYC market is not however a market for connoisseurs, and the goal of those distributing is primarily financial. Well that’s a lot of missed tax revenue for the city and state, not to mention the loss of revenues on New Yorkers who are going to neighboring legal states to grab their stash. 

A New York state bill to legalize REC flatlined earlier this spring, but now a new bill has been written and Governor Cuomo’s goal is to make recreational legislation a priority before June 19, the end of the legislative session. A good indicating factor of that will be what resources the Governor deploys to promote the new bill, like rallies and placing calls to state legislators on behalf of the bill.

The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act would allow Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to create an agency to oversee REC, MED and hemp-derived products like CBD.
Gothamist

• It would tax cannabis at a higher rate than the previous bill and set aside money to train cops to spot stoned drivers.

• Additionally it would set aside half of state cannabis revenue to be invested in equity communities including and cannabis business incubators.

This also will give New York a jump on New Jersey, allowing NY to capture the region’s market share until NJ gets their cannabis act together.

Credit: Weedweek and Gothamist