Legalize Marijuana
By Kassandra Frederique and Sochie Nnaemeka
NY can lead the nation with equitable marijuana legalization | Opinion
With newly installed Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature and a governor who has signaled his unequivocal support this week, many believe it is a foregone conclusion that New York will finally join other states in responsibly regulating marijuana use this year. That’s welcome news, and it’s long overdue. But it’s also abundantly clear that getting it done is not the same as getting it right.
As lobbyists, activists and lawmakers haggle over competing proposals to establish legal marijuana access for adults, there are several non-negotiable tenets that must be included in any legislative deal. Chief among them is the abiding principle that New York's marijuana legalization package must be laser-focused on putting impacted communities first.
First and foremost, adult use marijuana regulation must address the harms wrought by the decades-long war on drugs. Treating this as an issue of both economic and criminal justice reform, New York must use any legalization proposal as a vehicle to right the wrongs of the past and build the foundations for a more equitable future. This means not only ending housing and employment discrimination for communities devastated after years of criminalization and racist enforcement, but also the critical step of allowing re-sentencing for individuals with marijuana convictions. It’s also time for the state to remove a positive marijuana test as the sole factor determining a parole or probation violation, as New York City has already done.