Albany, NY – Today, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas (D-34) voted in favor of the 2021 Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), legislation that will address decades of harm by regulating cannabis for recreational adult use in New York State. Assemblymember González-Rojas is a co-sponsor of MRTA. Her office released the following statement:

“Tonight, the New York State Assembly made history by passing the 2021 Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), a bill that begins to address the unjust and ineffective prohibition of marijuana by responsibly regulating marijuana for legal adult-use in New York State. In the last two decades, over 800,000 arrests related to marijuana have been made and lives have been harmed by the racist War on Drugs. This legislation will result in the sealing and expungement of prior convictions related to possessing and selling cannabis. It will also generate revenue at a time when the fiscal state of New York is uncertain and while that is certainly a good outcome, I want to be very clear: we cannot buy back what the War on Drugs has stolen from communities of color. But this is a step towards healing. A percentage of revenue from the sales tax will go to counties and fund schools as well as drug treatment, prevention, and education. This is critical because people who use drugs are people first, and if they want treatment, then they deserve to receive it.

While this legislation won’t solve racism or over-policing in communities of color, it begins to right the wrongs of decades of unjust drug policies. This legislation will have great implications for racial justice and for social equity as it centers communities most harmed by the criminalization of marijuana. While the implementation of this legislation will take some time to roll out, the legalization component takes effect immediately, as it should. We cannot wait any longer. Once this bill is signed into law we will begin to have marijuana justice.”