New York Legalises Marijuana Possession
Cannabis is now legal in NYC for recreational use.
New York has legalized the recreational use of marijuana on Wednesday night, following a government’s announcement about the agreement from last week. The legislation came to place after the NYC Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie ratified the agreement on Sunday 28th March.
According to the legalization, New Yorkers are now allowed to freely possess up to 3 ounces (approx. 85.04 grams) of weed for various purposes, including medical treatment, recreational use and home cultivation. People over 21 can use, smoke, ingest or consume cannabis products in places where tobacco smoking is allowed, or hive them to others if the age requirements are met.
The legislation also provides licensing for marijuana producers, distributors, retailers, and other actors in the cannabis market, and it could potentially create economic and educational improvement in the city.
"Passage of this bill will mean not just legalizing marijuana, but also investing in education and our communities, and it brings to an end decades of disproportionately targeting people of color under state and federal drug laws," said Carl Heastie, the Assembly Speaker.
According to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, New York ‘stepped up’ and ‘took transformative action to end the prohibition of adult-use marijuana’.
The local government has also pointed out the adult-age cannabis industry could create significant job opportunities in the future. Governor Cuomo described it as 'a historic day in New York’ and said it will ‘embrace an industry which will grow the Empire State’s economy’ on his Twitter account.
#BREAKING: I just signed legislation legalizing adult-use cannabis.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 31, 2021
The bill creates automatic expungement of previous marijuana convictions that would now be legal.
This is a historic day.
I thank the Leader and Speaker and the tireless advocacy of so many.
Although cannabis legalization made it through the process, there are still questions raised about CBD, which has been subject to stringent regulations for a long time. In late October 2020, The New York Department of Agriculture and Markets released cannabidiol (known as CBD) guidelines, which forbid adding the substance to either foods or beverages. However, CBD can be produced and sold as a dietary supplement as long as it features no therapeutic claims.
New York has officially joined other 15 states in the US that allow recreational use of cannabis, with New Mexico and Minnesota, predicted to be following up very soon.
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