ALBANY, NY — “I said from the beginning of this session that I believed marijuana legalization had the best chance of being passed in this year’s budget. Today, the Senate confirmed that it does not have the votes to move forward with legalization.
“I was asked earlier this week on a radio show if I would settle for decriminalization as a backup, and I said I keep fighting and only “tend to give up on hour twenty when there’s four hours left in the session”.
“We have now reached “hour twenty”.
“Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by laws governing marijuana for far too long and it has to end.
“I understand the desire to end session today as planned, and will give the legislature a message of necessity to expedite passage if required. This legislative proposal is not new. I first proposed this decriminalization measure in 2013, and again in this year’s budget. The time to act is now.”
