New York Governor Wants to Legalize Marijuana

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, wants to legalize recreational marijuana. However, the legalization process has been delayed. Currently, New York is one of the states in the United States that has legalized marijuana for medical purposes. New York wants to join the handful of states that have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes.

In the above map, you can see that the states with legalized medical marijuana outnumber the states that have legalized it for both purposes. Since marijuana is still classified as Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substance Act, many regulators in the states are concerned about legalizing it.

The lawmakers in New York haven’t managed to formulate the regulations for recreational marijuana, which has caused the delay.

At the federal level, the US already legalized hemp at the federal level in the farm bill. Unlike marijuana, hemp doesn’t have the same properties as mainstream marijuana. THC is on the schedule 1 list because it’s a psychoactive substance.

Recreational cannabis remains a key development to watch for companies including Canopy Growth (WEED), Aurora Cannabis (ACB), Cronos Group (CRON), and Tilray (TLRY). The companies are eyeing the lucrative US recreational market (MJ).

Read TLRY Is Too Rich for Jefferies—What about Other Cannabis Players? to learn more.