Report: “Cuomo to renew push for legal marijuana (and CBD in food), aide says”

As the New Jersey vote gets closer it’s obviously reminded Cumo that at a time when NY needs as much tax revenue as it can garner the last thing they want is the inhabitants of Manhattan doing a reverse bridge & tunnel to buy cannabis in the Garden State.

 

NY Up reports…

Albany, N.Y. — After failing for the past two years, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is prepared to call again for the legalization of adult-use recreational marijuana in New York in 2021.

Cuomo also wants to issue new rules that would govern how CBD (cannabidiol), an extract from the cannabis plant, is manufactured and sold in the state, including in food and drinks. Current directives from state regulators prohibit CBD in food and beverages, though enforcement has been uneven.

Both plans were revealed during a recent video-taped interview between Axel Bernabe, one of Cuomo’s top advisers on cannabis and marijuana, and David Culver, an executive with Canopy Growth, one of North America’s largest cannabis companies.

 

According to a report at Marijuana Moment, which tracks marijuana-related issues around the country, Bernabe said the legislation the governor will introduce “will serve as a ‘model’ for other states, prioritizing social equity and economic development.”

Bernabe told Culver the governor wants the legalization included in the state’s 2021-2022 budget, which takes effect April 1. New York currently has a legal medical marijuana program, but not for recreational use.

Bernabe and Culver discussed the new push for legalization in the context of pressure from neighboring states. Massachusetts and Vermont currently have legalized recreational use, and efforts are underway in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Cuomo called for legalization of recreational marijuana in both 2019 and 2020, but it failed in both years due to disagreements over such issues as ensuring fairness for minority communities affected by enforcement of drug laws, how to spend the tax revenues, and whether to allow local communities to opt out.

Instead, New York in 2019 passed a marijuana decriminalization law, which increases the amount of pot you can possess without facing criminal charges and expunges the records of those previously convicted of low level drug charges.

Late last year, Cuomo signed a Hemp Extract bill into law. It creates a framework for what are likely the country’s strictest standards for growing and processing hemp, a species of cannabis that produces just trace amounts of THC, the psychoactive compound found in its relative, marijuana.

But the specific rules and licensing procedures under that framework have not yet been issued, which has left the state’s cannabis industry concerned about how it can continue.

Licenses had been set to expire on Oct. 31. Then, last week, the industry got some relief with the extension of New York’s Hemp Pilot program. That extends the licenses for the state’s roughly 700 growers into next year.

Read full report at

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2020/10/cuomo-to-renew-push-for-legal-marijuana-and-cbd-in-food-aide-says.html

 

Just so we are in no doubt about what is about to happen in NJ

N.J. voters strongly favor legal weed ahead of referendum, new poll shows

New Jersey voters support the ballot question seeking to legalize marijuana by a 2-to-1 margin, continuing a trend of strong favorability for the referendum with just two weeks left before Election Day.

Read more at https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2020/10/nj-voters-strongly-favor-legal-weed-ahead-of-referendum-new-poll-shows.html

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