If you’ve been holding your breath waiting for New York state to legalize recreational marijuana use, you’re not alone.

If you’re searching for clarity on the state’s approach to CBD products, decriminalization of pot use, clearing the records for past drug infractions or guidelines in starting up a cannabis-related business, you’re not alone in that, either.

It’s time for an updated look at where we stand with cannabis in New York.

• The 29 U.S. states having reporting licensed hemp cultivation acreage total nearly half a million acres in combined cultivation land area, a massive increase over 2018's combined U.S. total of just over 100,000 acres.
• Colorado leads the nation in hemp cultivation and processing land area with over 80,000 acres reported.
• Oregon, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Montana lead in hemp program expansion efforts.
• Tennessee leads in total hemp licenses issued in 2019.
• At least 70% of the 2019 U.S. hemp harvest is intended for extract production.
• California is poised to be the top-producing hemp state for both conventional and organic production as thousands of acres have already been planted in 2019.

Governor Cuomo will travel to Connecticut this week to meet with state leaders and discuss a "regional strategy" on marijuana and e-cigarettes.

In an interview Tuesday, the governor said that it doesn't make sense for nearby states like New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to have different policies on marijuana, because people would just drive to neighboring states to buy it. He also said discussing marijuana leads to a conversation about vaping, because so many marijuana products can be vaped.

The legal marijuana industry is budding before our eyes. What had once been considered a taboo industry that was swept under the rug by lawmakers has now become a front-and-center issue, as well as a big-time moneymaker for investors and companies involves in the pot industry.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has jumped in with other politicians to demand a quickly-enacted ban on flavored tobacco vaping products. His Sunday announcement came in the midst of a little-understood string of vaping-related deaths by severe lung disease, despite the fact that some of the dead were known to have smoked cannabis products.

The political divide between New York City and upstate New York is definitely real – even if there is a debate about what really is considered “upstate”. That said, was that why adult-use cannabis legislation failed to pass this past session? 

The friction between the more liberal and conservative sides of the state can be found in numerous examples and attempts at legislation. However, while cannabis views do certainly differ, the opposition to cannabis extended into New York City’s region while crossing across the aisle as well. 

If you use cannabis on your own time in a state where it is legal, should that be grounds for terminating your employment or rejecting your application for a job? Advocates are starting to say no, and demanding action to protest workers’ rights to use cannabis without the fear of the sack and unemployment.

Some states have already made progress in this direction. Yet California, which led the way toward opening legal space for cannabis with the Propositio 215 medical marijuana initiative in 1996, is not among them. Neither 215 nor the Prop 64 adult-use legalization initiative exactly 20 years later provided any such protections.

Cannabis has been decriminalized in New York State after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed off on the new legislation last month.

The new law has converted the possession of under two ounces of cannabis from a misdemeanor into a violation. As a result,  offenders will receive a ticket to appear in court, followed by a $50 fine if convicted of possession of less than one ounce, and a $200 fine if convicted of possessing less than two ounces.

In a decision that attorneys say could open the door to other class-action lawsuits, a petition has been approved to seal the criminal records of 350 people with marijuana misdemeanors in Manhattan.