When former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced sexual harassment allegations that threatened to end his career, he made a last-ditch effort to curry favor with the voters: He legalized weed. Maybe he hoped New Yorkers would be too stoned to remember the accusations that he had groped aides or asked female staffers to play strip poker with him.
New York's progressive legislators had been crafting a recreational marijuana bill since 2018, but the version that passed was rammed through as Cuomo fought for political survival. The bill wasn't just about legalizing cannabis; it was about righting historic wrongs by prioritizing licenses for people disproportionately impacted by prohibition. But in practice, the legislation has created a bureaucratic disaster that's failed both business owners and consumers.
Jonathan Elfand spent a decade in prison for growing and selling weed—a conviction that, under New York's new laws, should have given him priority in obtaining a legal dispensary license. Instead, he found himself stuck in bureaucratic limbo, with state regulators refusing to give him a license.
