Governor Cuomo to Legalize Adult Cannabis Use in New York

Governor Cuomo announced today his plan to set in motion legislature legalizing recreational use of cannabis for adults age 21 and over. His proposal seams like a pretty well balanced bill, including wiping records clean of charges for those previously convicted. The taxation layout seams a bit strange, but manageable. His proposal calls for a 3 tier layout, essentially it would break down to: growers, wholesalers, and retailers with the taxes being proposed at the wholesale level rather than retail. the bill would Impose a 20 percent state tax and 2 percent local tax on the sale of pot from wholesalers to retailers, plus a per-gram tax on growers; $1 per gram dry weight of bud/flower and $0.25 per gram dry weight of trim. The governor is giving counties and larger cities the ability to opt out of a legal cannabis program taking place in their area as well. Here's where it gets interesting though! Cuomo and NY democrats alike are pushing for legalization as a sort of social reform being targeted to low income communities "that paid the price, and not the rich corporations that come in to make a profit." which, don't get me wrong here, is great for small local business. I just find it to be a weird justification for legalization. Another thing to take note of is that with this comes a new way of managing the cannabis industry in New York, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) tied into the Alcoholic Beverage Control. The OCM would administer all licensing, production, and distribution of cannabis products in the adult-use, industrial and medical cannabis markets. This would also establish separate licensing programs for cannabis growers, distributors and retailers, with a ban on growers also opening retail shops. My final take out of this, and to me it's a BIG BIG flaw in this proposal, is a ban on New Yorkers growing their own cannabis for recreational use. It does, however, allow for the home grow of medical cannabis for those involved in the state's medical marijuana program. While allowing patients to grow at home is GREAT due to the costs of medicine in NY, insurance purposes, etc. banning recreational home cultivation seams to be counter intuitive, ESPECIALLY if the entirety of the states program was constructed with the idea that it liberates consumers from big corporations, or money and greed becoming a factor of the cannabis industry in New York. This begs the argument of "If it's going to be treated the same as alcohol, and home brewing of alcohol is permitted, why is it then that home cultivation of cannabis isn't?" If the state is truly concerned with potential contamination of cannabis with chemicals and pesticides, let us grow it on our own, organically, for ourselves, in our own gardens. I'm not sure how to go about the process but if this thing is going to go through it needs to be done right! Whatever we can do to persuade NY lawmakers to add this change to the bill needs to happen fast, before bill becomes law! Sorry for the long read but we are all here for the same reason, just thought I'd spread the news on.