New York State will likely legalize marijuana next year, but how it will embrace cannabis reform is still up in the air. Lawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo have proposed differing approaches, with the main sticking points being how to divvy up expected marijuana tax revenues—although it is unclear how much the state would make on pot sales and when the windfall would arrive. Cuomo says he supports legalization to help shore up the state’s battered COVID-19 economy and a projected $15 billion budget shortfall in 2021. Yet state budget analysts forecast tax revenue of only $20 million in the first year of operation, and an estimated $300 million in years to come—a drop in the bucket compared to the state’s urgent budget needs. Medical marijuana is already legal in New York, but after neighboring New Jersey legalized adult-use cannabis Cuomo obviously wants to make sure his state doesn’t miss out on commercial expansion, even if it compromises public health and safety.
Meanwhile, the Drug Enforcement Agency has changed its rules on federally sanctioned marijuana growing to accelerate scientific research into the drug. After years of delay, the DEA has expanded the number of businesses that can grow marijuana for federally approved study by scientists and doctors, to assess the possible dangers and benefits of cannabis that could lead to the development of marijuana-derived medicines approved by the FDA.
And finally, police in North Carolina have busted a drug ring and arrested 21 former students at colleges and universities in he state, charging them with dealing thousands of pounds of marijuana, along with cocaine and other drugs on campuses and in fraternity houses. They funneled large amounts of those drugs into universities and the surrounding towns, sometimes operating right out of their fraternity houses.