Drum Roll Please….

And NY legalizes cannabis. We are the 15th state to do so.

The best part of the bill is that all marijuana convictions are wiped from offenders’ records. It is an attempt to repair the absurd war on drugs. Another bonus is that 40% of all cannabis-generated tax revenue will be earmarked and distributed to Black and Latino communities.

“Unlike any other state in America, this legislation is intentional about equity,” Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, the Democratic majority leader in the Assembly who sponsored the bill, said on the floor of the lower chamber. “Equity is not a second thought, it’s the first one, and it needs to be, because the people who paid the price for this war on drugs have lost so much.”

Considering that NY will become the second-largest revenue generator of cannabis taxes, let’s hope they get the equity piece right. That is what makes this bill unique compared to other states.

This points directly to change always wins. The conservatives are trying to hold on to a world that has never really existed except for them. This is way past due. Time to move forward.