Now Supports Legalizing Marijuana
By Dan Murphy
Last year, an effort in Albany to legalize and tax the sale of marijuana in New York State fell a few votes short in the State Senate, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo supporting legalization but unwilling to twist arms to get it passed, and with the Assembly long supporting legal pot in the Empire State.
In the State Senate last year, Sen. Liz Kruger’s efforts to legalize marijuana were unsuccessful, with some suburban senators not ready to vote “yes.” One of those was Sen. Peter Harckham, who represents northern Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties in the 40th Senate District.
Last month, Harckham announced his support for Kruger’s legalization bill, and noted that his change in view came after some changes to legal pot legislation and a trip to Massachusetts, where Marijuana is legal and where thousands of New Yorker cross the border to purchase it.
“I’ve been in Massachusetts, and the sky is not falling over there,” said Harckham, who is chairman of the Senate’s Substance Abuse Committee and whose history of personal substance abuse makes him an even more influential senator in the debate over whether to legalize
Harckham said the state has not been devoting sufficient financial help to treatment agencies. “In traveling across the state, I observed we are drastically underfunding substance abuse disorders treatment, mental health treatment and the opioid crisis,” he told CNHI.
There are currently two legal pot legislations circulating in the state capital; Cuomo has included legal pot in his budget plan, while Kruger and Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples Stokes have their own bill.
Under the governor’s plan, a decision would have to be made in the final days of March if legalization is included in the state budget, due April 1.
New Yorkers would not be able to grow their own pot without a license under Cuomo’s plan, while Kruger’s plan does allow for a small number of plants to be grown for personal consumption.
Cuomo, who has proposed a 20 percent tax on cannabis sales in New York, would also allow counties to “opt out” and refuse to permit the legal sale of marijuana.
In addition to elected officials like Harckham who want 25 percent of cannabis tax revenues going to treatment and education, civil rights groups and lawmakers including Kruger want some of the tax revenue to go to communities that have been disproportionately hit by decades of racially-biased marijuana arrests.
Estimates have New York tax proceeds from legal pot at $300 million per year once implemented. “We’re not moving forward without the commitment on how the revenue is spent,” said Kruger, who said she wants some revenue reinvested into communities of color.
The three pieces of taxing pot in NYS under Cuomo’s plan are: Growers would be charged $1 per dry weight gram of cannabis flower, 25 cents per dry weight gram of cannabis trim, and 14 cents per gram of wet cannabis; the sale by any entity to a retail dispensary is taxed at a rate of 20 percent of the invoice price; and the same sale by any entity to a retail dispensary is taxed at a rate of 2 percent of the invoice price but collected in trust for and on account of the county or a city with a population of a million or more in which the retail dispensary is located.
The state estimates it could bring in $20 million in the coming fiscal year and $60 million in the following year – ultimately getting to $300 million in annual revenue when the program is fully phased in.
Legal dispensaries would be opened in New York, and would be able to sell 1 ounce of cannabis per person over the age of 21, per day. Licenses would be granted by a newly-formed NYS Office of Cannabis Management, which will have to decide how many dispensaries, lounges and cafes would be granted a license. All pot cafes and lounges would have to be at least 500 feet from a school or church.
Cuomo’s proposal would leave it to counties and cities of 100,000 or more people to decide whether to opt out of sales of marijuana. It would still be legal to possess it, but it would be illegal to have stores that sell the drug within a county that opts out. Last year, leaders in six counties indicated they would not allow marijuana sales locally – Columbia, Chemung, Nassau, Putnam, Suffolk and Rockland. Cattaraugus and Oneida leaders also said they were likely to oppose local sales.
Many other New York counties’ took a wait-and-see attitude to see what happened before opting out, including Westchester. Another option would be for counties to further restrict locations and hours of operation. The City of Yonkers, with a population greater than 100,000, would be allowed to set its own marijuana policy if the state legalizes.
Law enforcement may have new devices and technology to help them combat drivers under the influence of marijuana. A new marijuana breathalyzer device could be available soon, and other technologies including an app that measures reaction time and decision making is also about to hit the market.
Harckham further explained his support of Kruger’s bill, the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which would invest 25 percent of state revenues toward treatment, education and prevention, and additional resources dedicated to local law enforcement to enhance DUI enforcement.
“The bottom line is this: I’m for the legalization of marijuana in the State of New York,” said Harckham. “But it must be legalization specifically with improvements that guarantee the safety and well-being of our residents in regard to added spending on community policing of DUI and comprehensive education and communication efforts that point to the risks of marijuana use; and 25 percent of revenue, and not a dollar less, going toward treatment and safety net programs, including substance use disorder and community mental health programs.”
Harckham also said his many discussions over the past year with educators and law enforcement, pointed to vaping and binge drinking as the biggest concerns regarding young people, and that in states with legalization there was not a sizable spike in marijuana use among teens and young adults.
“The key point here is Sen. Krueger listened to the concerns of my constituents and others around the state, and amended her legislation as a result,” said Harckham.
“What I learned from dozens of hearings and meetings with stakeholders is this: The safety net for substance use disorders is in tatters, and we need to invest right now to start turning things around,” he continued. “Sen. Krueger’s legislation, the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, will ensure that 25 percent of the total state revenue from marijuana sales will go toward substance use disorder treatment programs and education. This will be the lifeline for our communities, our mental health programs and our residents.”
Harckham’s district office in was the subject of protest by a group called Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which opposes legalization of marijuana in New York.
“As a constituent of Sen. Harckham, I am completely dumbfounded that he will support marijuana commercialization because he wants more money to fight drug abuse,” said Russell Kamer, clinical associate professor of medicine at New York Medical College. “It doesn’t make any logical sense to put more drugs into our community in order to prevent people from using drugs.”
“The commercial marijuana industry has demonstrated a routine habit of marketing its highly potent, kid-friendly products in ways that are appealing to young users and given what we know about marijuana’s effects on young users, it is hard to imagine that any revenue will outweigh the subsequent costs,” added Melissa Robbins, state director for Smart Approaches to Marijuana New York. “What’s more, states that have legalized have seen increases in marijuana positivity rates, issues in productivity, and some have even begun to force employers to hire candidates who fail to pass drug screens. All told, this is not the way forward for New York.”
Other opponents include the NYS Parent Teacher Association and Association of County Health Officials.
We agree with Sen. Harckham’s analysis. If New Yorkers can drive across the Albany border into Western Massachusetts and purchase pot, the horse has left the barn, and the only thing lost is the tax revenue in NY. Harckham said it best, “The marketplace has spoken. It’s time that we tax this and put that money to a social good,” he said.
