Assembly majority leader presses for legal cannabis in NY in 2020

WXXI News | By Karen DeWitt

Published February 28, 2020 at 12:55 PM EST

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State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes says if the state legalizes adult recreational use of marijuana, revenue from sales of the drug must benefit the communities that suffered from its prohibition.

WXXI's Karen DeWitt talks to State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes about the possible legalization of the adult recreational use of marijuana in New York state.

Crystal Peoples-Stokes, the first African American woman to serve as Assembly majority leader, is the prime sponsor in her house of a bill to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana in New York.

In an interview for public radio and television with WXXI's Karen DeWitt, the Buffalo Democrat said the decades-long prohibition of cannabis had a detrimental effect on communities like the one she represents, and she wants the measure to funnel some of the revenue from the sale of the drug back to those communities.

To hear an excerpt, click on the LISTEN button above. Watch the entire interview on "New York Now" at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on WXXI-TV.