Legislators Plan Substantial Changes To State’s Marijuana Law!

Lawmakers in the state want to make big changes to the way marijuana can be used for recreational purposes. NY1 has affirmed that the legislature and governor’s office are talking about how these changes should be made.

The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act was signed into law in 2021 after it was passed by the legislature. Nevertheless, there have been problems with making legal sales of Cannabis happen. Now, people are talking about changing the law to make selling legal pot easier.

“I wouldn’t call it a complete change. But I would call it some necessary tweaking,” said Crystal People’s-Stokes, the leader of the Democratic majority in the Assembly from Buffalo. “First of all, we’ve never done this in this state before. We’re doing it differently because we want to put New Yorkers first. So, there’s a lot that needs to be changed.”

First, lawmakers want to pass a law that would make enforcement stronger and give the state the power to close down unauthorized shops that have become a big problem in New York City and other places in the state. Illegal stores undercut legalized dispensaries.

“It would give fines for illegal pot shops some real bite,” said Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan and a state senator. “We are putting a lot of effort into trying to shut down every one of these thousands of illegal businesses in New York.”

The tax system would also be changed by the changes being talked about. Some people think that the price is too high right now. “Yes, it would speed things up. Peoples-Stokes said, “For the producers, for the labs, and really for the businesses.”

“In general, if the producers or labs have to pay more, they will pass that cost on to the businesses, which will then pass it on to the customers. So, we’re lowering both the price and the size of the product.” There are different ideas about what happened to make the law pass with so many flaws.

Krueger said, “I do think that part of the problem is that we passed the law, but we had a government decided to name Andrew Cuomo who didn’t get the agency up and running.” “So, individuals were seated there wondering, ‘Where are you? What are you doing?’ We tried to get him to do something, but he wouldn’t.”

New York’s law also makes it easier for people who have been arrested for marijuana in the past to open legal marijuana shops. There are now two lawsuits, one at the federal level and one at the state level, that try to change that.