ALBANY — New Yorkers are high on legalizing weed as a cure for the state’s budget woes, a new poll Monday revealed.
Sixty two percent of New York voters said they supported making marijuana use legal for people 21 and older, with only 28% opposed, according to the poll commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project Foundation and the Drug Policy Alliance.
The poll, conducted by Emerson College, also found that legalizing and taxing marijuana was, by far, the most popular way to erase New York’s looming budget deficit, with 60% of voters supporting it.
Between 15% and 27% of voters supported other deficit-reducing options, such as increasing sales or income taxes, increasing tolls, or cutting support for public education.
Gov. Cuomo’s budget office has estimated that New York faces a $4.4 billion deficit for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, which begins April 1.
“This should be a wake-up call to lawmakers: New Yorkers want their state to take a sensible, humane approach to marijuana policy,” said Landon Dais, political director of MPP of New York.
“New York should stop wasting resources punishing otherwise law-abiding residents for using a substance that is safer than alcohol,” Dais said.
Dais’ organization, in a recent report, estimated that legalization of marijuana would generate $183 million in state and local sales tax revenue during the first year and more than $555 million a year by 2025.
Marijuana legalization, Dais added, would also provide additional revenue through licensing fees and increased economic activity, including the creation of up to 40,000 new jobs.
“This poll signals that New Yorkers favor using revenue from a legal marijuana market to address our budget deficit and lawmakers would be wise to heed their opinion,” said Kassandra Frederique, New York State Director for the Drug Policy Alliance.
Critics, however, contend legalizing marijuana would send an unwanted signal that drug use is acceptable and exacerbate the ongoing crisis with heroin and opioid addictions.
“It starts them on the road to hard core drugs,” said New York Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long.
So far, New York has only legalized limited medical uses of marijuana
State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) has sponsored legislation to legalize recreational use of marijuana but the bill has repeatedly stalled in the GOP-controlled state Senate.
Cuomo has also said he opposes legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
Krueger, however, believes momentum is gradually building and “it’s only a matter of time” before legal marijuana becomes a reality in New York.
As more and more states have legalized marijuana, lawmakers are learning that it is not something to be feared, Krueger said. It’s especially significant, she added, that Massachusetts is among the states that has legalized marijuana, with pot sales expected to begin in that state sometime next year.
New Jersey’s incoming Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, has also promised to push legislation legalizing marijuana.
“When it’s on your border and people can cross over and get it, you start to wonder what does it mean for New York State not to legalize it,” Krueger said.
