A green tide is sweeping the nation.
With many states across the U.S. moving to legalize marijuana for recreational use, it appears that New York state will join their ranks soon. The state’s newly re-elected governor, Andrew Cuomo, has named legalizing marijuana as a major part of his administration’s agenda. It’s part of his plan for the first 100 days of his new term, which he calls his “2019 Justice Agenda.” The subtitle of the plan is “New York’s Declaration of Independence from Washington,” which would seem to acknowledge the fact that marijuana is illegal at the federal level, as well as communicating New York’s status as part of the resistance to the Trump administration.
If successful, New York would join 10 other states that already have legal recreational marijuana, namely California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Alaska, Michigan, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts, as well as the District of Colombia. In addition, 33 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, but it would seem that New York intends to hop-scotch over that step altogether.
New York would also be a little bit unique in that most states that have legalized recreational marijuana have done so through a ballot initiative by voters directly, whereas it would appear that New York will be doing so through its legislature at the request of the governor.
While the majority of Americans favor marijuana legalization, the federal government hasn’t made a move at all on the issue, still listing it as an illegal drug. This creates a very unusual situation in which the states are technically breaking federal law. Still, it seems unlikely that the Feds can stop the green wave.
