As expected, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today called for New York to legalize adult recreational marijuana use, and his budget proposal for 2019 outlines regulations and taxes to make it happen.

Cuomo’s plan, unveiled in his annual State of the State speech, would create a new government office to regulate both the proposed recreational weed business and the state’s existing legal medical marijuana program. It creates new taxes on both the growing of cannabis for recreational use and the sale of recreational marijuana. The new wholesale tax on weed would be 20 percent of the price.

The plan also authorizes a 2 percent wholesale tax that would go to counties that host a “dispensary,” or marijuana shop. But the plan gives counties and the state’s larger cities the option of declining to host such shops.

Cuomo recently estimated the taxes could generate about $300 million per year, while warning the exact number is hard to pin down. His administration’s official budget briefing book, released today, warns about “falling in the trap of overestimating revenue from the adult-use of marijuana.”

Cuomo’s public stance on legal marijuana has changed over time, He once called it a “gateway drug,:” but in the past year accepted the findings of state health reports that conclude the benefits of legal weed outweigh the negatives. In addition, 10 other states and the District of Columbia have adopted some form of legal marijuana use.

“We’re sort of past that bridge. ... the recreational sale of marijuana is here,” Cuomo said during an interview Tuesday with Albany’s WAMC.

Cuomo also points to what he calls the “social justice” aspect of legalizing marijuana, citing studies that show people of color are disproportionately arrested and jailed for marijuana use. Cuomo’s plan would, for example, seal the records of some past marijuana convictions.

Cuomo’s plan calls for a new state Office of Cannabis Management, which would regulate the production, distribution, licensing and enforcement of the new industry. Marijuana sales would be setup similar to the alcohol industry, with a separation of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.

“The program will limit the number of producers and retail dispensaries to guard against a market collapse," according to Cuomo’s budget proposal, and "encourage equity through craft growers and cooperatives, and provide training and incubators to ensure meaningful and sustained participation by communities disproportionately harmed by cannabis prohibition.”

The budget plan also supports a $100 million Hemp Industrial Park to be developed in the Southern Tier by Canopy Growth Corp. It would include “growing, processing, manufacturing and research facilities.” The specific location has not been identified.

Canopy Growth is a Canadian company that recently received a $4 billion investment from the giant drinks company Constellation Brands, based in the Rochester suburb of Victor.

CannaGather, which bills itself as New York’s “largest cannabis industry community,” welcomed Cuomo’s proposal.

"New York is already the largest unlicensed market in the world, so its legalization will ultimately yield billions of dollars for the legal economy in the form of sales, ancillary business, medicine and research, the group’s co-founder, Josh Weinstein, aid in a statement. “This is money that can go into the hands of entrepreneurs and taxes that can be used by the State for education and social services.”

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.