Released this week was an annual budget legislation for New York and both the Senate and the Assembly added marijuana legalization language as a part of it.

The New York Senate has recommended certain modifications to the legal cannabis proposal and the Assembly stipulated that legalization legislation should “provide for personal cultivation” of marijuana. The governor’s proposal had banned home growing of recreational marijuana and he had recently said he’s “no longer confident” the idea will make it into final spending legislation that must be signed by an April 1 deadline.

The Senate chamber said it “generally supports” legalization and outlined a series of amendments the chamber’s leaders want to be included.

The Senate is also calling for marijuana tax revenue to be allocated to “fund public education, job training, reentry services, drug treatment and prevention programs, community-based supportive services, improvements to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and to expand training for state and local law enforcement to maintain road safety.”

“The Senate will work to make sure that the good-paying jobs in the medical marijuana field will continue to be protected and will flourish as the adult use program is established and expanded,” said the resolution. “The Senate believes that it is critically important that revenue generated from legalization support communities that have been disproportionately impacted by enforcement of prior marijuana policies.”

The Assembly chamber “proposes to continue discussion with the Executive and the Senate to provide for the regulation of hemp-derived cannabis products, to expand the existing medical cannabis program and to provide for the regulation of cannabis and cannabis products for adult-use.”

“The Assembly supports the establishment of a centralized regulatory approach for the regulation and management of medical, adult-use and hemp-based cannabis and cannabis products through the creation of a regulatory body comprised of legislative and executive appointments, as well as ex-officio agency representation from agencies involved in implementation.”


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