Cynthia Nixon, the former “Sex and the City” actress challenging New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, elaborated on her cannabis legalization position in a Facebook video on Wednesday, taking a social justice approach to the reforms.
“There are a lot of good reasons to legalize marijuana but, for me, it comes down to this: We have to stop putting people of color in jail for something that white people do with impunity. Eighty percent of the New Yorkers who are arrested for marijuana are black or Latino, despite the fact that whites and people of color use marijuana at roughly the same rates.” – Nixon in an Apr. 11 Facebook video
In the video, Nixon calls the war on drugs “racist” and says that “regulating and taxing marijuana would generate hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue … and create important agricultural opportunities” for the state.
“In 2018, in a blue state like New York marijuana shouldn’t even be an issue. If there was more political courage coming out of Albany we would have done this already. The simple truth is: for white people the use of marijuana has effectively been legal for a long time. Isn’t it time we legalize it for everyone else?” – Nixon in the video
Nixon, a Democrat, announced last month she would challenge the incumbent, Democrat, governor. Earlier this month, several people who attended a private fundraiser told the New York Times that Nixon supported legalizing recreational cannabis use.
Cuomo, a former New York attorney general, has long opposed cannabis reform; although in January he called on lawmakers to approve funding for a recreational cannabis feasibility study.