Campaigners call for legislation to include expunging the records of people previously convicted of marijuana crimes

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Campaigners to legalize marijuana have welcomed New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s promise to make the drug legal in the state, pushing it to the top of his legislative priorities next year.

“Let’s legalize the adult use of recreational marijuana once and for all,” Cuomo said in a speech on Monday in Manhattan laying out his priorities as he prepares to begin a third term.

Cuomo framed the move to legalize the drug as a matter of fairness in the criminal justice system and after Cuomo’s announcement, advocates called for marijuana legislation to include expunging the records of people previously convicted of marijuana crimes.

“New York should give the first licenses for selling legal marijuana to New Yorkers convicted of non-violent marijuana-related crimes and to minority and women-owned businesses,” said Amelia Adams, a spokeswoman for the group We Rise to Legalize.

“A truly equitable and fair adult use program would expunge non-violent marijuana convictions from New Yorkers’ records, expand re-entry programs to people impacted by the war on drugs, and invest profits from new marijuana sales into communities of color,” Adams added.

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Cuomo gave few details about the proposal, quickly sparking questions about how marijuana sales would be handled, where tax revenue would go, and what would happen to people with past marijuana convictions.

The position is a reversal for Cuomo, who last year called pot a “gateway drug” and said he was not convinced it should be legalized for recreational use.

But he has moved closer to embracing full legalization, as 10 other states and Washington DC legalized the drug. Cuomo commissioned a study by the state Health Department, which recommended allowing recreational marijuana.

Neighboring New Jersey is also moving toward legalization, leading many to question how enforcement would be possible just across the river in New York and Cuomo to say that the “facts have changed” on the drug.

In New York City, police have stopped making arrests of most people caught holding or publicly smoking marijuana, giving them summonses instead.

Medical marijuana is already permitted in New York.

Legalizing recreational pot could generate $1.3bn a year in taxes for the state and city, a report found this year.

Democrats won control of the state senate in November’s midterm elections, making it likely that the legislature will be receptive to a legalization bill.

Debate has already started on where a tax windfall should go. One proposal, pushed by the former city council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, would use the money to fix the city’s crumbling subway system.

But that idea has drawn criticism from other officials, who say the money should be dedicated to initiatives to help the black and Latino communities who have been hardest hit by marijuana enforcement. In New York City, about 86% of those arrested for possession have been black and Latino.

The call to legalize pot came amid a speech outlining a sweeping and largely liberal agenda from a governor who has moved to the left amid potential presidential ambitions, and a primary challenge from the left last year by the actor Cynthia Nixon.