Governor Cuomo has several priorities for New York in 2020. Chief among them: legalizing pot.
To learn more, I spoke with our Albany bureau chief, Jesse McKinley, about why the governor is making a bold move toward marijuana legalization and what it might look like.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo vowed on Wednesday to legalize marijuana in New York, prioritizing a push that fell apart last year amid tensions over who should be allowed to sell the drug and where the revenue should go.
The governor described the effort as a long overdue criminal justice reform that could help salve wounds in communities affected by the decades-long war on drugs.
South Dakotans will vote this year on whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 years and older.
Secretary of State Steve Barnett said Monday his office has validated a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older and require the state Legislature to enact a hemp cultivation law.
Barnett said his office found the petition had enough valid signatures to put the proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot. A constitutional amendment requires 33,921 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
In 2019, the illegal market for cannabis eclipsed the legal one by a rate of about 3 to 1. Roughly 75% of sales in California were under the table, which is a huge hindrance for statewide efforts to boost legitimate businesses and collect taxes. 2020 will be a make or break year for California's legal weed market.
The new year is off to a profitable start in Illinois, where the state's marijuana shops brought in nearly $3.2 million on the first day of legal sales. The sales come after Governor J.B. Pritzker delivered on a top campaign promise in June, when he signed legislation to legalize small amounts of marijuana for recreational use at the start of 2020.
BOISE – An Idaho lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that will make hemp legal in the state.
Republican Rep. Dorothy Moon told the Idaho Press the legislation will align Idaho with federal law.
Lawmakers begin meeting Monday. Previous attempts to legalize hemp have failed over concerns it could be used to hide marijuana.
Republicans have been conservative about cannabis. However, cannabis legalization is a popular discussion topic among Democrats. In the past, the bills and reforms were Democrats’ initiatives. Republicans oppose some of the reforms even in states where cannabis is legal. However, there could be some support from Republicans regarding marijuana.
Recreational marijuana use became legal in just one more state, Illinois, with the start of the New Year on Wednesday. More states could follow suit in 2020, with several states set to put recreational marijuana on the ballot. Cannabis is still considered an illegal substance at the federal level.
As California enters its third year of legal recreational cannabis sales, many expect upcoming new laws, high-profile court cases and major criminal justice reforms to shake up the industry.
Welcome to The Week in Weed’s look back at the news of 2019; whether the year has flown by or seemed to last forever, it’s (almost) over now. In tribute to Dave Barry and his always hilarious Year in Review, we’ll organize these stories by month.
Without further ado, here’s a look at the stories that grabbed our attention in 2019.
