NEW YORK (WCBS 880/AP) – After reports of a deal last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers announced an agreement Saturday to legalize recreational marijuana in New York state.
Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced the agreement Saturday night.
"For generations, too many New Yorkers have been unfairly penalized for the use and sale of adult-use cannabis, arbitrarily arrested and jailed with harsh mandatory minimum sentences. After years of tireless advocacy and extraordinarily hard work, that time is coming to an end in New York," Cuomo said.
Leaders in the Assembly and Senate said a vote on the 128-page bill could be coming this week. Cuomo said he plans to sign it.
The legislation would allow recreational marijuana sales to adults over the age of 21 and set up a licensing process for the delivery of cannabis products to customers.
Individual New Yorkers could grow up to three mature and three immature plants for personal consumption.
The legislation would take effect immediately if passed, though sales wouldn’t start immediately as New York sets up rules and a proposed cannabis board. Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes estimated Friday it could take 18 months to two years for sales to start.
The legislation provides licensing for marijuana producers, distributors, retailers and others in the cannabis market.
New York would set a 9% sales tax on cannabis, plus an additional 4% tax split between the county and local government. It would also impose an additional tax based on the level of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, ranging from 0.5 cents per milligram for flower to 3 cents per milligram for edibles.
Officials said the cannabis program is projected to bring in $350 million in taxes each year, as well as 30,000 to 60,000 new jobs to the state.
Of the tax revenue collected, 40% would go to education, another 40% to grants for communities “disproportionately impacted by the drug war” and 20% to drug treatment and public education programs. The revenue would also go to the cost of administering the program.
New York would eliminate penalties for possession of less than three ounces of cannabis and automatically expunge records of people with past convictions for marijuana-related offenses that would no longer be criminalized. That’s a step beyond a 2019 law that expunged many past convictions for marijuana possession and reduced the penalty for possessing small amounts.
New York would provide loans, grants and incubator programs to encourage participation in the cannabis industry by people from minority communities, as well as small farmers, women and disabled veterans.
The bill allows cities, towns and villages to opt out of allowing adult-use cannabis retail dispensaries or on-site consumption licenses by passing a local law by Dec. 31, 2021 or nine months after the effective date of the legislation. They cannot opt out of legalization.
More information about the legislation can be found here at governor.ny.gov.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.