Top New York Republican Lawmaker Says Marijuana Legalization Will Happen In 2021

The top Republican in the New York Assembly says he thinks the state will legalize marijuana in the new year.

“There’s still back and forth, but I suspect this year this will actually get done,” Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R) told WWNY-TV on Wednesday, referring to the upcoming 2021 session.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has twice included proposals to legalize cannabis for adult use in his annual budget requests, but negotiations between his office and the legislature have failed to produce a passable bill to date.

Barclay said he “thought it was going to get done” in 2020, though that didn’t happen. “I think it just got pushed off because of COVID.”