With State Senate in Dem Hands, Cuomo Sees the Light on Legal Pot
*By Carlo Versano*
Sensing the shifting political winds, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reportedly planning to introduce a "green new deal" that would legalize recreational pot as part of the inaugural speech he will [deliver](https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-cuomo-budget-state-of-state-addresses-20181209-story.html) from Ellis Island on New Year's Day.
Michael Gianaris, a New York state senator from Queens and member of the new Democratic majority in Albany, told Cheddar that "the time has come" for the Empire State to move forward on pot legalization.
"It's something that people are doing anyway," he said, arguing that the tax revenue generated from pot sales could help act as a form of "recompense" for minority communities adversely affected by decades of Draconian drug laws.
Will Bredderman of Crain's New York Business has been [covering](https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics/cuomo-reveal-green-new-deal-marijuana-states-2019-agenda) Cuomo's changing attitudes on marijuana, which the governor called a "gateway drug" just last year.
Now, with the state senate in the hands of Democrats after being controlled by Republicans more or less uninterrupted since the 1970s, liberal groups see this as the moment to chalk up a "fairly easy win" on an issue held dear to many progressives, according to Bredderman.
If New York legalizes marijuana for recreational use, experts believe it could bring in somewhere between $200 million and $700 million a year. That sounds like a lot, but think of it like this: the plan to modernize New York City's failing subway system calls for $40 *billion* in funding.
"It's really not that much money," Bredderman said. The bigger gain would be in jobs created and income tax generated ー from growing facilities to retail dispensaries. "That has potential to be quite large."
There's also what Bredderman called the "spin-off effects" from taking pot off the black market and easing enforcement of low-level marijuana offenses, which some state DAs have already committed to doing.
For Cuomo, the real win would be in the realm of politics, especially after the primary, in which he easily dispatched challenger Cynthia Nixon but was pressured by her supporters to move leftward for his final term in office. Marijuana legalization in a state like New York is likely to have bipartisan support, Bredderman said, and is widely popular among New Yorkers across demographics.
"A lot of people smoke marijuana," he said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/will-new-york-be-next-to-legalize-recreational-marijuana).
Stephanie Akin, Politics Reporter for CQ Roll Call, breaks down
Senator Manchin's donation pool, and highlights what this support means for the conservative Democrat as well as the Republican party.
The global oil benchmark surpassed $90 for the first time in more than seven years. This comes as growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine add to concerns about the already-tight market. Jay Hatfield, Chief Investment Officer at ICAP, joined Cheddar to discuss what this benchmark means for the oil industry, and what might happen if Russia does invade its neighbor.
With the Beijing Winter Olympics set to get underway on Friday, Dan Wolken, a national columnist for USA Today, joined Cheddar News to break down the big storylines as the pandemic and international conflicts threaten to cast a cloud over the event that is aspirationally seen as a beacon of international cooperation. Wolken noted specific issues over cybersecurity for visiting athletes and disputes over human rights leading to a diplomatic boycott have been making waves even before the opening ceremony. "So you've got sort of these barbs going back and forth already between the Americans and the Chinese, and things haven't even started yet," he said. "We don't even know what's going to happen once the games start and people actually start winning medals."
We are a week away from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and China has already faced a host of problems leading up to the opening ceremony of the Beijing games. DJ Peterson, president of Longview Global Advisors, joins Cheddar News to discuss the many concerns and controversies surrounding the event.
In 2021, QAnon, the community which traffics in conspiracy theories saw a rapid growth in its numbers. As a result of vaccine rollouts, a number of conspiracies surrounding them also began to circulate which then led to the rise of "Anti-Vaxxers". As a result, the QAnon and anti-vax communities have become increasingly intertwined and the results could be costing lives. Senior Researcher at Media Matters Alex Kaplan, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Supreme Court Justice Breyer has announced that he will officially retire from his post. He has served as the senior member of the more liberal wing in recent years. Now his retirement puts pressure on President Biden to decide on who will replace Breyer. Attorney and Media Editor at SCOTUS blog Katie Barlow, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
A long awaited report in the UK looking into the alleged parties held at 10 Downing Street during lockdown finds a culture of excessive drinking and a "failure of leadership" in Boris Johnson's government. Cheddar News speaks with international journalist Thomas Cole, who is closely monitoring latest developments.
While Donald Trump stated he would be willing to pardon Capitol Hill insurrectionists should he return to the presidency, the January 6 Committee issued subpoenas to 14 individuals who cast bogus electoral votes for the former president in seven states won by Joe Biden in 2020. Molly Jong-Fast, editor-at-large at The Daily Beast, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ongoing congressional investigation. "It is kind of crazy that every time Trump speaks, he kind of confesses a little more of what he was up to, but you really have to have proof," said Jong-Fast.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
