The city has gone to pot. Marijuana, that is.

Since the coronavirus hit, sales of marijuana have gone through the roof in both the United States and Canada. Between March 16 and 22, sales of recreational cannabis rose by 50 percent across states including California, Colorado and Oregon, while medical marijuana sales jumped 41 percent from the same period a year ago.

Despite recreational pot still being illegal here, New Yorkers are helping fuel the trend.

Without the ability to gather in person, marijuana reform efforts have stalled in multiple states across the country.

New York lawmakers will prioritize response to the novel coronavirus pandemic and likely delay marijuana legalization.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo intended to legalize adult-use marijuana through the state budget this session, but the novel coronavirus outbreak may force the issue on the back burner. The state budget is due in two weeks and key lawmakers now believe issues around legalization, including how the state will spend tax revenue created by marijuana sales, will not be negotiated in time.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo believes New York will still legalize recreational marijuana this year, though others aren’t so sure.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the coronavirus outbreak has not stopped his intention to legalize recreational marijuana in New York. Because the government doesn’t know how the coronavirus will affect their ability to convene and pass legislation, Cuomo talked of an “accelerated” budget process in the coming days to push through bills.

“I want to see as much as we can get done,” Cuomo said during a press conference this week. ”I want to see as much as we can get done. Only caveat, I want to do things right.”

The story of cannabis legalization is, in part, a real estate story, as cannabis business owners buy and rent storefront property, scope out cultivation spaces, and engage with zoning boards. Today, eleven states and Washington, D.C. have legalized adult use cannabis, and a number of efforts to legalize by ballot or by legislature are underway, from New Jersey and New York to Oklahoma. 

Legalized recreational marijuana will be an important part of the regional economy, impacting a number of industries outside the core retailing of cannabis, an accounting executive said Wednesday at a meeting on legalization's effect on Long Island.

“It’s huge,” said Gary Rosen, partner-in-charge of valuation, forensic and litigation services at Marcum LLP, an accounting and business advisory firm with offices in Melville. “It’s professionals, it’s supply chain management, it’s transportation, it’s solid waste, it’s security, it’s finance jobs…it’s such an important aspect for the future of our region.”

Local business leaders explored the potential impact of marijuana legalization at the event in Melville, hosted by the Long Island Association business group.

At the last Democratic debates, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg got his money’s worth of much-deserved verbal lashings from fellow candidates for his policies. In an attempt to defend himself, he apologized for the broken legacy of his mayoral policies and lied about his administration’s role in its execution of stop-and-frisk. It’s not the first time he has expressed empty regret for targeting black and brown communities and the other democratic candidates were right to call him out. Community pleas to end this intensely damaging policy during his tenure as mayor consistently were ridiculed and went unheeded.

A poor medical marijuana program and recreational markets outside New York could force the state’s hands this year.

Last year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo promised voters New York would legalize adult-use marijuana in the state. He announced the intention like it was a foregone conclusion. Those following closely know New York didn’t legalize last year, but Cuomo is again making the same promises while doing a little more work to ensure it happens this time around.

After a failed attempt to legalize recreational cannabis in New York last year, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he plans to try again in 2020 and is going to visit other states with legal pot to learn how it’s done.

“I’m going to visit Massachusetts, Illinois, and California or Colorado,” said Cuomo.

The governor wants to include provisions to legalize marijuana for use by adults in budget legislation again this year. In an effort to learn what has and what hasn’t worked in other jurisdictions, Cuomo said that he and members of his team would be paying a visit to three pot-legal states.

During his annual State of the State address, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo emphasized a need for legalizing adult-use cannabis this year. If that report sounds familiar, that’s because similar talking points were mentioned during the governor’s 2019 agenda.