New York Lawmakers Set Eyes on 2020 for Marijuana Legalization

On the heels of Governor Cuomo saying that marijuana legalization won’t happen this year due to lack of support, another top official is coming in out in support of legalization. The Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy says he’s “open” to marijuana legalization.

The outgoing Republican Party Chair Ed Cox led efforts to thwart legalization, the New York Post reported. The party’s policy action commission did recommend decriminalization instead of legalization. Governor Cuomo wants marijuana legalized because the state needs the money to fix issues within its infrastructure.

Langworthy said, “My predecessor certainly had strong feelings on that…I was a strong proponent of medicinal marijuana. As a Republican Party leader I was probably the first, you know, in the state to take that on. I don’t have the same hostility toward the legalization of marijuana as maybe my predecessors did.”

It’s still unlikely that New York will legalize marijuana in 2019, so eyes are set on 2020 at this point.