The New York State Bar Association formally expressed support for legalizing recreational cannabis use for adults in the state.

The NYSBA adopted a report from its Committee on Cannabis Law on Jan. 31. The report provides guidance to governing bodies considering recreational cannabis legalization and recommends legislation allowing municipalities to opt out of legalization.

Recreational cannabis use is currently illegal in New York state.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in his State of the State address that legalization will be an administrative priority this year. After months of debate with lawmakers in 2019, the push for legal recreational cannabis use ended in a stalemate amid concerns about the logistics of legalization and taxation.

“The State Bar Association is obviously very influential when it comes to the law and making laws,” said Ben Coffin, a defense attorney with the Onondaga County Bar Association. “It is definitely going to have a real influence on the legislation.”

The committee recommended that the state hire a professional organization to study the state’s current policies and suggested that any forthcoming legislation contain social equity provisions.

Cuomo’s January budget proposal, which would allow adults over 21 years old to legally purchase cannabis and sets up packaging, labeling and advertising oversight, also calls for “social equity licensing opportunities.”

The legalization of recreational cannabis will keep a lot of people out of the criminal justice system, Coffin said.

Susan Scholl, an internship placement coordinator at Syracuse University’s Falk College who specializes in public health, said lawyers see first-hand the effect of low-level cannabis arrests on the court system and those convicted.

“It seems, too, that the bar is recognizing, along with other entities, that adults can make reasonable and informed decisions about private behaviors,” Scholl said. “Perhaps they are acknowledging that legalization is inevitable.”

Support of the bar association’s adoption has not been unanimous. Some members of NYSBA’s House of Delegates, which adopted the committee’s report, expressed concerns about the consequences of legalizing recreational use. Michael Markowtiz from the Nassau County Bar Association said endorsing legalization would be a “fundamental mistake.”

Joel Hay, a professor at the University of Southern California who studies drug legalization, questioned how much legalization would help remedy other social problems.

“It is hard to see how legalizing cannabis will help with problems like the opioid crisis, poverty, poor education or lack of medical care,” Hay said. Decriminalization is a far better approach, he said.

Though cannabis would be illegal under decriminalization, individuals possessing cannabis would not face legal prosecution, according to the Journal of the Missouri State Medical Association. Instead, civil penalties such as fines or drug education would be implemented.

The goal of the proposed budget’s social equity provision is to correct harm to individuals and communities that cannabis prohibition has disproportionately impacted, according to the budget.

People convicted of cannabis violations can experience trouble accessing student loans, subsidized houses and certain jobs or licenses, Coffin said.

“The legalization of it has the potential to avoid all of that for people,” Coffin said.

Published on February 9, 2020 at 9:36 pm

Contact Chloe: caarambe@syr.edu