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Should marijuana be legalized for recreational use?
- Yes
- No
- Undecided
A recently released report stated that with legalization becoming more widespread, many from the area have been driving to nearby states - namely Massachusetts, which legalized it late last year - to purchase government-approved marijuana products and illegally taking them back over state lines.
Marijuana is currently legal in Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont.
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been pushing for marijuana legalization - even vowing to have it passed by the summer - though the recently approved state budget failed to include such legislature.
Cuomo has said that “in concept, we have an agreement; but that is all about the devil in the details. And that is going to take more time to work out.” He and New York lawmakers are expected to begin negotiations later this month.
According to the New York Post, while reporting on a story about New Yorkers heading to Massachusetts for the sake of purchasing legal marijuana, approximately two-thirds of the license plates in the parking lot of a dispensary were from New York.
"For us, marijuana is a relatively new issue," Cuomo told WNYC's Brian Lehrer last month. "It really started with my proposal this year but they have signaled that they need more time to talk about it. Therefore I didn't want to count the revenue for marijuana in this budget."
"If we could get it done by the budget, that would be great," he added. "But there's a whole legislative session after the budget and my take is it will be done during the legislative session post budget and therefore I took the revenue out of the budget."
In Connecticut, a legislative committee is preparing to vote on a bill that could lead the way legalizing the drug in the Nutmeg State. The state’s Judiciary Committee is reviewing a bill that would take the beginning steps to legalize marijuana.
The panel is expected to vote this week. A second bill will also be voted on to clarify that employers will not be forced to allow workers to consume or possess any marijuana products while they are working. The bills are expected to eventually be consolidated into one.
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