As Momentum Builds Across New York for Marijuana Regulation, Westchester Groups Host Public Discussion with Law Enforcement, Education, and Public Health Experts
White Plains, N.Y. – On June 4, local groups will host a public conversation at Pace Law School about marijuana regulation, featuring a police chief, school board parent, and addiction treatment expert.
Advocates are pushing for the passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (S1527 / A1617) before the end of the state legislative session. New York has the opportunity to lead on establishing a national model of equitable and just legalization should look like by creating a taxed and regulated adult-use marijuana market that not only creates economic opportunities for all New Yorkers but addresses the harms of decades of prohibition.
What: A Conversation About Marijuana Regulation
When: Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 6:30 pm ET (Networking at 6 pm ET)
Where: Pace University, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Joseph & Bessie Gerber Law Center, Robert B. Fleming Moot Court Room, 79 North Broadway, White Plains, NY 10603
Panelists: Chief Peter Volkmann, Chatham Police Department; Lisa Tane, school board member; Tanya Osborne, WomenGrow; Steven Rabinowitz, Families for Sensible Drug Policy and addiction treatment professional; Cristina Buccola, Esq., CB Counsel PLLC
Hosts: Empire State Indivisible, Families for Sensible Drug Policy, Pace Food Law Initiative, Start SMART NY coalition (Sensible Marijuana Access through Regulated Trade), WESPAC Foundation, Westchester Coalition for Police Reform, WomenGrow
Support for legalization has long been established in the Empire State. The Governor, State Senate, and Assembly have all said they support marijuana legalization and legalizing marijuana with a social justice focus has already been identified as a key issue for the 2020 presidential race. After Long Island, Westchester has the highest ratio of low-level marijuana possession arrests to population.
Start SMART NY is a campaign to end marijuana prohibition and repair the harms to communities convened by the Drug Policy Alliance in partnership with groups dedicated to ending marijuana prohibition.
