New York MPs and Senators on Tuesday passed a bill to legalize adult use of marijuana, making the state the 15th in the United States to allow recreational use of marijuana. Drugs.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he is eager to enact the law. “New York has a long history of being the nation’s progressive capital, and this important legislation will carry that legacy,” he said in a statement.
The move was also hailed by NORML, a political marijuana lobby group, which said tens of thousands of New Yorkers were arrested each year for petty marijuana-related offenses and that the majority were young people, of the poor and people by heart.
“The legalization of marijuana is an imperative for racial and criminal justice, and today’s vote is a critical step towards a more just and equitable system,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
The official New York State website recently projected that tax collection for the adult cannabis program would reach $ 350 million per year and also create between 30,000 and 60,000 new jobs in the state.