New York governor flips on legalizing cannabis this year due to coronavirus

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The rapid spread of COVID-19 is changing priorities in the state

New York is in the middle of great chaos, with nearly 70,000 active cases of coronavirus and almost 2,000 deaths to date, and cases continue to rise. Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave into the possibility of not having cannabis legislation this year when he described as “not likely” the chance of cannabis legislation to be included in the state’s budget. According to Cuomo, the issue has proven to be too complicated to be handled parallel to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to Cuomo’s statement, there are a couple of revised bills for the budget, which are excluding cannabis legalization that also confirmed the bad news.

“Too much, too little time,” said the governor, referring to the future of the proposal during a press conference. He gave more details later as to why it was a complicated matter that was left out of the budget during a radio interview, stating, “We’re not going to get there. I don’t believe we get there because in the truth that is something that had to be talked through and worked through, and the legislature wasn’t here. I was doing this COVID virus. That requires time to do it right.”

Cuomo also added, “That is not a yes/no. That’s a, how does it work. How about the police? How many licenses? Who gives out the licenses? How do you do minority empowerment? How do we coordinate with Connecticut and New Jersey?” he explained. “And no one has really had the time to work those things through. So, I don’t think we get there on that.”

With the deadline for presenting the final 2021 budget set for Wednesday, so the Senate and Assembly can send the spending bills to the governor’s desk, it is unlikely that any substantial changes are made. Cuomo’s original proposal included the implementation of a recreational cannabis market and, in the revised version, was “intentionally omitted.”