Recreational Marijuana Law Faces Court Review
Written by on July 6, 2023
In 2021, the New York State Legislature took the foolish step of passing the Marihuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA). The MRTA legalized the recreational use of marijuana, supposedly laying the groundwork for the state to rake in millions of dollars in tax revenue from the sale of the drug. In passing the MRTA, the Legislature embraced the false beliefs that marijuana is not a dangerous drug and that its legalization would further some concept of social justice. Unsurprisingly, in its effort to create a new market in legal marijuana, the state has instead created a mess. Getting a state-regulated system off the ground has taken far longer than anticipated, farmers that grew massive amounts of legal marijuana have very few places where they can legally sell it, and illicit marijuana merchants—emboldened by the knowledge that their customers will no longer be arrested or prosecuted for possessing the drug—have proliferated throughout New York City.
On June 23, 2023, the Albany Times Union reported that the MRTA has been challenged in court by the Cannabis Impact Prevention Coalition, Cannabis Industry Victims Seeking Justice, and several other plaintiffs. Filed in Albany, the lawsuit reportedly “compares the industry to tobacco companies that made fraudulent claims about their products.” In addition, the plaintiffs contend that the state of New York usurped the authority of Congress by legalizing a drug that remains illegal under federal law.
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms is thankful that the MRTA is being challenged in court. The state should continue to be confronted in the courts and in the court of public opinion about its ill-considered marijuana policy and the shambolic implementation of that policy.
