Capital New York: A New (Non-Smoking) Champion for Marijuana Legalization

Sen. Krueger will soon be introducing legislation to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in New York State. Capital New York's Dana Rubinstein attended Sen. Krueger's recent forum on marijuana policy reform, and reports on Sen. Krueger's forthcoming legislation:

“It is my intention as a New York State senator to soon introduce a law that would actually decriminalize, regulate and tax marijuana in New York,” said State Senator Liz Krueger, an Upper East Side liberal, on Wednesday night.

The room full of marijuana enthusiasts erupted into applause.

Liz Krueger is not, as she noted, a stoner. She says she last inhaled in the 1970s.

But at the Wedneday evening forum she hosted at Baruch College about her bid to legalize pot, she emerged as the unlikely hero of New York State’s marijuana legalization movement.

Under Krueger's draft “Marijuana, Regulation, and Taxation Act,” first released Wednesday night, New York adults would be allowed to grow up to six pot plants at home. New Yorkers could buy and sell weed just like they buy and sell alcohol. And like alcohol, the business of weed sales would be regulated by the New York State Liquor Authority.

Read more at Capital New York.