It’s true Cuomo signed into law in March the state’s Marijuana Revenue and Taxation Act, which legalized adult-use cannabis in the nation’s biggest city and set the stage for a statewide industry worth as much as $4.6 billion.
This summer, with entrepreneurs and consumers waiting for a clearer indication as to when legal commercial sales of cannabis in the state could begin, Cuomo appeared to slow down the process out of spite.
New York is one of the friendliest landscapes in the country for Big Marijuana, the handful of publicly traded big marijuana companies that dominate the industry in more and more states.
Under Cuomo, New York State legalized medical cannabis, but under possibly the strictest rules in the country.
These “original ten” cannabis companies, gifted a market near-monopoly by the governor, became attractive takeover targets from Big Weed.
All that would be very unlike Cuomo, who provided an example of how government can best help Big Marijuana take over a state’s cannabis industry.
I’m an award-winning investigative reporter and I’ve covered the legalization movement and the cannabis industry with a political economy lens for more than a decade.