New York Marijuana Legalization: Bill Officially Dead After Cuomo Announces Lack Of Support In Senate
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – The push to legalize recreational marijuana in New York is officially up in smoke.
In a statement, Gov. Cuomo said the senate confirmed it did not have the votes to move forward with legalization on Wednesday – the end of the lawmaking session.
New York politicians shifted their focus to a bill that would expunge the records of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who were arrested for marijuana offenses.
Cuomo added that he supports the decriminalization measure.
On Tuesday, sources told CBS2 negotiations bogged down over a number of issues, including whether localities that don't want to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana could opt out and refuse to do it, and how to spend the $300 million generated by taxes on the sale of marijuana.
New Jersey and their governor, Phil Murphy, had already admitted defeat on the issue, saying marijuana legislation was being scrapped.
New Jersey plans to push the matter to the voting booths in 2020.