New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced plans to discuss cannabis legalization with governors in the neighboring states of Connecticut and New Jersey to ensure the administrations are all aligned on the issue.
“Everyone is talking about legalizing marijuana,” Cuomo said during a Sept. 24 interview on Long Island News Radio, as reported by The Washington Times. “Jersey’s talking about it, New York’s talking about it, Connecticut’s been talking about it. For one state to do it, it makes no sense if the neighboring state has a totally different policy because you then just incentivize people to drive over the border and buy it there, right?”
Cuomo planned to discuss the issue with Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont Sept. 25, according to The Washington Times, and with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy at a later date.
New York passed a decriminalization measure this year, which Cuomo signed into law in July, although adult-use legalization efforts stalled in the legislature in June.
Connecticut also let an opportunity to legalize adult-use cannabis slip by this year, when the General Assembly declined to vote on the legislation before the end of the legislative session in June. Gov. Ned Lamont was supportive of the effort, however, having urged the legislature to pass a bill on time.
A legalization bill also stalled in New Jersey this year, when Senate President Steve Sweeney announced in May that he was giving up on legislative efforts and was instead turning his attention toward a 2020 ballot initiative. Murphy, however, announced last month that he would be “all in” for a last-minute push by legislative leadership to approve an adult-use legalization bill by the end of the year.
