We’re getting closeerrrr.. THE NEW YORK DEPT OF HEALTH JUST BACKED LEGALIZING MARIJUANA. BAM! The dept sent a 75 page report to Governor Cuomo stating research of how the pros outweigh the cons with marijuana use. And Cuomo’s coming around on the idea. In a conference last week, he went on record going over details of how weed use in New York would actually work.
“Now you have to answer specifics,” Mr. Cuomo told reporters. “Who sells it? Where do they sell it? What quantity can you sell? That to me, the devil’s in the details. And to come up with a full program, that’s what we have to answer,’’ stated Cuomo.
Some major points from the report include:
- Criminalization “has not curbed marijuana use despite the commitment of significant law enforcement resources.
- New York state’s hundreds of thousands of marijuana-related arrests and prosecutions over the past two decades “have disproportionately affected low-income communities of color” even though these communities aren’t significantly more likely to use pot — backing similar findings from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Sentencing Project.
- Legalization would let the state “better control licensing, ensure quality control and consumer protection, and set age and quantity restrictions.”
- It would also provide tax revenue to the state, estimated at $248.1 million to $677.7 million in the first year. The extra money could help support various state programs, from education to health care.
- Legalization does not appear to, so far, lead to a significant increase in marijuana use in the states that have adopted the policy. But regulators should keep an eye on potential trends, the report said: “A regulated marijuana program should monitor and document patterns of use to evaluate the impact of legalization on use.”
- Marijuana may reduce opioid overdose deaths. This finding references earlier research that suggests states with medical marijuana have fewer opioid overdose deaths, although some experts caution that the studies still aren’t very strong and there are more proven evidence-based policy solutions for fighting the opioid epidemic.
- There are some risks to marijuana, including addiction, potential mental health problems, and car crashes involving drugs. Many of these risks were documented in a comprehensive report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
All in all, New York is getting that much closer to officially legalizing weed use… awhhh shittttttt.
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