Fight for marijuana justice in New York

Due to the advocacy of people like you, Governor Cuomo amended his marijuana legalization plan to reduce some of the ramped-up criminal penalties for marijuana offenses and allow marijuana delivery services.

While this is the first time he’s notably shifted his position on this issue, his bill still falls short in too many ways. It does not fully address decades of racist marijuana criminalization and enforcement that disproportionately harmed Black and Latinx communities.

Instead, the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) remains the gold standard for legalizing marijuana the right way in New York. Tell your lawmakers to support and pass the MRTA to legalize marijuana centered in racial and economic justice.

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Dear Governor Cuomo, Assemblymember, and Senator,

Message Body

I urge you to support and pass the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (S.854/A.1248) this year. It’s time to legalize adult use marijuana in New York and ensure it’s done with equity, reinvestment, and justice at the core.

Although Governor Cuomo amended his marijuana legalization plan to reduce some of the ramped-up criminal penalties for marijuana offenses and allow marijuana delivery services, his bill still falls short in many ways. It does not fully address decades of racist marijuana criminalization and enforcement that disproportionately harmed Black and Latinx communities.

New York must lead the nation in legalizing adult-use marijuana swiftly with policy that is responsive to the massive problems generated by criminalization. The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) is the gold standard of how to legalize the right way. The MRTA must be the starting point for moving legalization forward in New York since it has stronger social equity and community reinvestment provisions than the Governor’s bill and includes much-needed components for fair legalization like home cultivation and delivery and on-site consumption licenses.

The MRTA would comprehensively address the records of people who have been convicted of marijuana offenses, ensure robust equity in the new industry and direct resources to a small-business incubator, and reinvest tax revenue from legal sales in communities doubly pummeled by COVID and marijuana criminalization.

Extreme racial disparities continue in marijuana enforcement (despite similar rates of use across racial and ethnic groups) and the impacts of criminalization can stay with an individual for life. Decades of criminalization have impacted people’s ability to secure housing, employment, and higher education, further exacerbating challenges marginalized communities faced before the COVID-19 pandemic and even more after. To legalize the right way, a significant portion of marijuana tax revenue should be reinvested in the communities that bore the worst of the arrest crusade.

Legalizing the right way by passing the MRTA would also create more than 30,000 new jobs across the state that are based in a fresh industry and must include strong diversity and economic justice protections. Smart legalization must also include a licensing structure favorable for social equity licensees, small businesses and family farmers, so that there are entry points for small, local businesses and individuals across the state to participate in the market and build ownership and wealth in communities that are traditionally sidelined.

Marijuana justice is more than just legalization – it requires removing criminal penalties and repairing the harms of prohibition through comprehensively addressing prior criminalization and proactively establishing social equity and community reinvestment. Please do everything you can to pass the MRTA this year. Thank you.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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