The demise of the proposal came amid a last-minute push to tie up loose ends before the close of the session, which is scheduled to conclude on Thursday. All legislative seats are on the ballot in the elections this year, and Republican senators have pointedly refused to take up several issues that are avidly sought by Democrats in the Assembly but that might upset conservatives, including the marijuana bill and a measure to raise the state’s minimum wage.

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In private discussions about the marijuana bill, Senate Republicans raised concerns about the amount of marijuana that Mr. Cuomo’s bill would have allowed people to possess in public without being charged with a misdemeanor — 25 grams. By one calculation, that would produce 63 marijuana cigarettes — one for each member of the Senate next year, as a Republican senator joked at a discussion of the proposal.

The failure of this bill is a disappointing setback for the marijuana reform movement. It will likely mean that tens thousands of primarily young African-Americans and Latinos will be arrested this year in New York for simple possession of marijuana, wasting the State millions of dollars.

Its failure this round, though, is not completely unexpected. Governor Coumo only come out in support of the measure two weeks ago.  That was towards the very end of this particular legislative session and only months out from the election. That gave activists relatively little time to build popular support and gave legislators only a brief window to work on it this session to try to come up with possible compromises. Several other pending issues took up much of the legislature’s final few days in session.

The prospects for a similar marijuana decriminalization bill next year look much better. Now the issue has the backing of the governor, it is much more likely to be brought up and aggressively pushed in future sessions. With more time for the legislature to debate the issue, likely a new mix of representatives elected and continued growing popular support for marijuana reform, conditions should be more favorable next year.

Albany (photo: wallyg/flickr)

Yesterday the New York State Assembly approved AB 7347, a bill that would legalize medical marijuana in the state for certified patients with serious illnesses. The bill passed the chamber by a vote of 90-50 and it will now head to the Senate.

According to the office of the Speaker of the Assembly the law would:

• allow a licensed practitioner to certify that a patient has a serious condition (under statutory criteria) for which they are likely to receive palliative or therapeutic benefit from treatment with the medical use of marijuana;
• allow a certified patient or designated caregiver who is registered with the state Department of Health to possess up to two and one half ounces of marijuana;
• authorize the state Department of Health to license and regulate “registered organizations and producers” to dispense medical marijuana for certified patients; and
• authorize the state Department of Health to issue registry identification cards to certified patients and designated caregivers.

Medical marijuana is expected to have a tougher time getting approval in the more conservative New York State Senate which is currently controlled by Republicans. While Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo has so far neither endorsed nor promised to veto the bill, his recent public statements about medical marijuana have been lukewarm at best.

Recent polling does show that the voters of New York overwhelmingly want the Senate to follow the Assembly’s lead on this issue, they want Cuomo to sign a medical marijuana bill if it gets to his desk. 61 percent of New York Voters support legalizing marijuana for medical use, just 33 percent oppose the reform.

Looking at the cross tabs there is a very large partisan divide on the issue of medical marijuana. Democrats support it 67 percent to 28 percent. Independents are even more supportive than Democrats, with 69 percent of New York Independents supporting medical marijuana and just 27 percent opposed. On the other hand, a small plurality (45 percent) of Republicans oppose the idea, while only 43 percent support it.

The poll did find that there is majority support for medical marijuana among all age groups, regions, races and income levels.

Recently, Governor Andrew Cuomo came out in support of decriminalizing minor marijuana possession that is in “public view.” Minor marijuana possession is already decriminalized in New York if it is not in public view, but this technical distinction has allowed tens of thousands of mostly low income minority males being unfairly arrested for marijuana possession discovered during stop and frisk searches.

One hopes the new found willingness of top political leaders in the state to look into marijuana reform in general will eventually lead the government to follow the clear will of the electorate on the issue of medical marijuana.

Siena College 5/6-10
Do you support or oppose legalizing the use of medical marijuana in New York State?
57% support
33% Oppose
8% Don’t have enough information
2% Don’t Know/No opinion

Looking at the crosstabs, medical marijuana has broad support from the entire population of the state. A majority of every age group, gender, geographic region, religious group and income bracket supports the state legalizing medical marijuana. The only group with a plurality opposed is Republicans with 46 percent against and 44 percent for.

Currently there is a bipartisan effort underway in the state capital to approve medical marijuana before this legislative session ends, but Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo has been rather dismissive of the bill.   One can only hope this new poll showing that the voters overwhelming support medical marijuana will spur the state government to finally act on this issue and provide relief to those in need.