New Yorkers punished for marijuana crimes will be state's first licensed dealers
NEW YORK -- New Yorkers punished for marijuana crimes will now be first in line to legally sell the drug.
Marijuana dispensaries are coming to a street corner near you, and the first licensed dealers will be the people most affected by the war on drugs -- people like Vlad Bautista, arrested 20 times for smoking weed.
"This really hinders you throughout life for you consuming a plant that now, you know, big corporate and Wall Street are going to make billions of dollars off. It's only right that they cut out a portion for the people that were most impacted," Bautista told CBS2's Jessica Moore.
The state's cannabis board approved a plan Thursday to give the first tranche of licenses, around 100, to people with previous marijuana convictions and their family members.
"We unfairly targeted Black and brown communities during the marijuana heavy-handed arrests ... and they should be front in line," Mayor Eric Adams said.
But not everyone is happy with the vote.
"We're taking basically drug dealers from the street corners and giving them a store front and assisting them with opening their successful business," Sen. Alexis Weik said.
The $200 million price tag adds insult to injury, according to Weik, who says the money would be better spent helping families and small businesses still reeling from the pandemic.
Attorney Andrew Lieb says he agrees with the policy ethically but not legally, as it will disproportionately give licenses to people of color.
"It's clearly discriminatory, clearly violates the Constitution and I can definitely see a Caucasian-led proprietor who's denied a retail license bringing what's called a 1983 claim to go and sue because this is probably unconstitutional and discriminatory," he said.
But Gov. Kathy Hochul calls the vote a win for racial equality, and Bautista agrees.
"These people that were harmed get to create generational wealth ... The state makes more money in tax revenue and overall everybody wins," he said.
The first cannabis dispensaries are set to open by the end of 2022.