How pot bureaucrats used legal weed to push their social justice agenda.
https://reason.com/video/2025/03/11/new-yorks-weed-nightmare/
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When former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced sexual harassment allegations that threatened to end his career, he made a last-ditch effort to curry favor with the voters: He legalized weed. Maybe he hoped New Yorkers would be too stoned to remember the accusations that he had groped aides or asked female staffers to play strip poker with him.
New York’s progressive legislators had been crafting a recreational marijuana bill since 2018, but the version that passed was rammed through as Cuomo fought for political survival. The bill wasn’t just about legalizing cannabis; it was about righting historic wrongs by prioritizing licenses for people disproportionately impacted by prohibition. But in practice, the legislation has created a bureaucratic disaster that’s failed both business owners and consumers.
Jonathan Elfand spent a decade in prison for growing and selling weed—a conviction that, under New York’s new laws, should have given him priority in obtaining a legal dispensary license. Instead, he found himself stuck in bureaucratic limbo, with state regulators refusing to give him a license.
Unlike other states that simply legalized weed and let businesses flourish, New York took a heavy-handed, social justice–driven approach. Regulators created criteria that would offer priority licenses to women, minorities, veterans, and those from communities that had been “disproportionately impacted” by prohibition.
Even though Elfand had served a decade in prison for weed-related charges, that wasn’t enough to guarantee a license. Instead, bureaucrats picked winners and losers, leaving enterprising business owners like Elfand out in the cold.
Shouldn’t regulators let pretty much anyone open up, and allow customers to decide who they want to patronize?
New York’s law explicitly allowed public consumption, unlike places like Amsterdam, which have designated coffee shops where people can get baked in semi-private. The result? A city where the smell of marijuana permeates the streets, frustrating residents who didn’t sign up for this level of exposure.
New York could have followed Amsterdam’s model: designating semi-private areas for smoking while enforcing no-smoking laws elsewhere. Instead, the state prioritized social justice and government control over decent policymaking.
New York’s marijuana legalization effort was meant to correct past injustices. Instead, it has created a new class of victims: Entrepreneurs denied the opportunity to compete in a free and fair market. The real winners? The black market dealers who never stopped selling in the first place.
Producer: Kevin Alexander
Video Editor: Hana Ko
Graphics: Regan McDaniel
Color Correction: Cody Huff
Audio Production: Ian Keyser
Music Credits: “OK igen” (Instrumental Version) – Ikhana via Epidemic Sound/”The Only Survivor” – Marten Moses via Epidemic Sound/”4X4″ – Damma Beatz via Epidemic Sound/ “Central Domain” – Pulsed via Epidemic Sound/ “Quietly Tense” – Marten Moses via Epidemic Sound/”My Mental State” – Damma Beatz via Epidemic Sound
Photo Credits: Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post/picture alliance/Consolidated News Photos/Newscom; Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/Newscom; Barry Williams/TNS/Newscom; Rick Davis / SplashNews/Newscom; Don Pollard/TNS/Newscom; Erik Mcgregor/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Richard B. Levine/Newscom; Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/Newscom; Lev Radin/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Lev Radin/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Ron Adar / SOPA Images/Sipa USA/Newscom; Bruce Cotler/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group/Newscom; Krista Kennell/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Daniel Efram/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Luiz C. Ribeiro/TNS/Newscom; Gina M Randazzo/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/Newscom; Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group/Newscom; Spencer Jones/GHI-Plexi Images/UCG/Universal Images Group/Newscom; Paul Martinka / Splash News/Newscom; Angel Colmenares/EFE/Newscom; Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/Newscom; Rick Davis / SplashNews/Newscom; Erik McGregor/Sipa USA/Newscom; Paul Martinka / Splash News/Newscom; Hudspeth County Sheriff/Splash/Newscom; Gina M Randazzo/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Erik McGregor/Sipa USA/Newscom; Angel Colmenares/EFE/Newscom; Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/Newscom; Paul Martinka / Splash News/Newscom; Mariela Lombard/ZUMApress/Newscom; Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post/picture alliance / Consolidated News Photos/Newscom; Stephanie Keith/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; John Lamparski/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom/ Cliff Owen – CNP/Newscom/Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group/Newscom/Dennis A. Clark/Polaris/Newscom/ Richard B. Levine/Newscom/imageBROKER/Stanislav Belicka/Newscom/imageBROKER/P. Mullen/Newscom/imageBROKER/Mara Brandl/Newscom/Willy Spiller/ Rare Historical Photos.Martha Cooper, NYPD Riding the Subway in the 1980/ Viewing NYC/Vergara, Camilo J. Homeless persons, Penn Station, NYC, 1988. Library of Congress.
