Cuomo says New York will legalize weed, sports betting in 2021
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo pledged to legalize marijuana and online sports betting during his State of the State address Monday. Photo via Governor’s Office/Flickr
By David Brand
Gov. Andrew Cuomo pledged to legalize adult use of marijuana and mobile sports betting in New York during his annual State of the State address Monday in Albany.
Speaking before a small group of in-person attendees, Cuomo said both proposals would raise revenue and align New York with neighboring states.
Legalizing marijuana would also end “the over criminalization of this product that has left so many communities of color over policed and over incarcerated,” he said. Fifteen other states, including neighboring New Jersey and Massachusetts, have already made marijuana legal.
Though low-level marijuana arrests have plummeted over the past several years, Black and Latino New Yorkers are still disproportionately impacted. Blacks and Latinos accounted for 219 of the 288 arrests for unlawful, fourth- and fifth-degree marijuana possession in the first three quarters of 2020, according to the most recently published NYPD arrest data.
From July 1 to September 30, 2021, more than three-quarters of those arrested were Black. With 16 arrests in that span, Queens was tied with the Bronx for most in the city.
The state seemed poised to legalize marijuana during the 2019 and 2020 legislative sessions, but the measures ultimately failed. Cuomo said he expects marijuana tax revenue to top $300 million annually.
On Jan. 6, Cuomo outlined a system for overseeing and regulating marijuana through an Office of Cannabis Management. The state will offer specific licensing opportunities and assistance to business owners in communities of color disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
Mobile sports betting, also legal in New Jersey, has the support of several local lawmakers, including Queens State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, Jr.
“By legalizing mobile sports betting, New York will be able to reap the benefits of the economic gains it will create and help the state rebuild after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Addabbo said Jan. 6, after Cuomo released a preview of his speech.
Cuomo on Monday also discussed strategies for combating COVID-19 and future public health crises. He said the state will create a 1,000-member public health corps in partnership with Cornell University and the Northwell Hospital System. The health corps will administer vaccines statewide and prepare New York for future emergencies.
He also pledged to tackle climate change by improving renewable energy infrastructure and making New York the “green energy capital of the world.”
