Senator Krueger, Assemblymember Peoples-Stokes to Hold First NYC Public Forum on NYS Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act

Wednesday December 17 at 11:00 a.m., New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) and New York State Assemblymember Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D-Buffalo) will hold a public forum on their Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA; S. 6005 / A. 8341 of 2013-2014) and the need for marijuana law reform in New York State. The forum will be held in the Senate Hearing Room at 250 Broadway in Manhattan (19th Floor).

Against the backdrop of a changing national climate on marijuana policy, with more states adopting or considering regulate-and-tax models for marijuana, this forum provides an opportunity for realistic conversation on a topic that has long been the subject of fearmongering and hyperbole.

Marijuana policy experts, advocates and local government officials will offer their testimony, experiences, and analysis on marijuana policy, the effects of marijuana-related incarceration on communities in New York State, and the potential fiscal and economic benefits of marijuana regulation and taxation.

Among those individuals and organizations expected to participate in the forum are:

• New York City Councilmembers Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) and Steve Levin (D-Brooklyn)
• The New York City Independent Budget Office
• The Drug Policy Alliance
• The American Civil Liberties Union
• BOOM!Health, a Bronx-based community health and wellness service organization working to remove barriers to accessing care in hard-to-reach communities.
• The Police Reform Organizing Project
• Carl Hart, Associate Professor of Psychology, Columbia University
• Dr. Howard Josepher, President and CEO of Exponents, a community-based 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to people suffering from the effects of substance abuse to reclaim their lives.

In December of 2013, Sen. Krueger and Assemblymember Peoples-Stokes introduced the MRTA to lay the first stone in New York's path beyond its current costly, discriminatory, and ultimately failed policy of prohibition and incarceration. If passed, this legislation would make New York the most populous state in the country to regulate and tax marijuana for general use.