If freshly voted in New Jersey governor Phil Murphy signs recreational cannabis into law, as he’s promised, New York is going to be flanked by legalized marijuana, with Massachusetts on the other side.
This has lawyers, lobbyists, activists and scholars all looking to New York to see what the next moves will be. Most of them are pulling for legalization, but there are a few hitches, and experts predict that it will be another three to five years before New York state goes fully legal.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed medical marijuana into law back in 2014 and though the program got off to a tepid start, it’s bringing in much more tax dollars than originally anticipated. Pretty good for a state law that doesn’t include actual cannabis flowers or other smokable options.
It helps that the state expanded its program to include five new licensed operators and has also expanded the qualifying conditions to include post traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain, two of the most common ailments eased by medical cannabis.
The expansion of the program has resulted in projected tax revenue going from $1 million by 2022 to $2 million in annual revenue—a sharp spike that could be setting the stage for further development of the current laws or could even hint at an expedited timeline for legalization.
Those hurdles remain, though, including the banking system. Banks that operate in multiple states and especially internationally have their hands tied by cannabis’ Schedule I status. And though there is legislation in the Senate to deschedule the herb, the Trump administration has the pressure on, and it’s in the exact opposite direction of legalization.
For now, the lawyers and lobbyists that brought New York medical marijuana will continue fighting to bring recreational next, and while they’re up against many conflicting factors, the best and the brightest are on the case.
