On July 5, 2014, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a medical marijuana bill into law. On March 31, 2021, Gov. Cuomo signed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) into law, which legalized recreational use of marijuana. In both 2014 and 2021, New York Families warned lawmakers that marijuana was a dangerous drug and that legalization would lead to negative consequences.
Nearly five years after the enactment of the MRTA, New York continues to be plagued by the botched, shambolic implementation of this ill-advised law. At first, illegal pot shops proliferated throughout New York City. Legal dispensaries were blocked from opening by the state’s foot-dragging, leaving unused marijuana crops to rot. (That wasn’t such a bad thing.) Later, legal pot dispensaries sprang up across the state; some were closer to schools and churches than they were supposed to be. Now, legalization has normalized the use of the drug. Billboards extolling marijuana products are everywhere. In some public spaces (and even while driving in traffic), the putrid aroma of weed seems to be everywhere, too. Furthermore, New Yorkers have been subjected to the inane spectacle of Gov. Kathy Hochul acting as a sales rep for the marijuana industry, encouraging New Yorkers to purchase “safe” marijuana at state-licensed facilities.
Sometimes, it’s no fun being right.
Recently, problems associated with marijuana legalization have been acknowledged by an unlikely source: The New York Times’ endlessly liberal editorial board. On February 9, 2026, the Times published an op-ed admitting that its past full-throttle support for pot legalization was off the mark. The op-ed notes that widespread pot legalization across the nation has led to a spike in marijuana use, with 18 million Americans reporting they use the drug daily or almost daily. According to the Times, “Each year, nearly 2.8 million people in the United States suffer from cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which causes severe vomiting and stomach pain. More people have also ended up in hospitals with marijuana-linked paranoia and chronic psychotic disorders. Bystanders have also been hurt, including by people driving under the influence of pot.”[1]
The Times acknowledges that “big marijuana” has downplayed the harms of marijuana and that some companies selling weed for medical use have been less than honest about its healing properties. Given that legal pot has become a $30 billion per year business, the marijuana industry has a financial interest in obscuring what its products can do to people. The Times also asserts that more than 10% of marijuana users become addicted to the drug. (Like the predatory casino industry, the marijuana industry makes most of its money off of “heavy users” of the drug.)
Despite all of this damning evidence, the Times resists calls to re-criminalize recreational pot. Instead, it advocates a policy of “grudging toleration” for marijuana.[2] Its specific proposals, however, leave much to be desired. The Times proposes a federal marijuana tax, which it naïvely believes would discourage excessive pot use. If a person is addicted to a substance, that person is unlikely to be deterred from purchasing it by measures that increase its cost only slightly. A federal tax would likely drive more heavy pot users into the cheaper black market for the drug; it would also effectively legalize pot nationwide, overriding the will of the voters in states where marijuana remains unlawful. The Times also calls for harsher penalties for companies that exaggerate the medical benefits of marijuana; this approach would likely have little or no impact on recreational users. [3]
At New York Families, our position on marijuana has not changed. Marijuana was a dangerous drug in 2014. It was a dangerous drug in 2021. It remains a dangerous drug today, and it should be illegal. We call on the state of New York to reverse course.
[1] The Times makes several claims about marijuana with which we disagree. First, the Times blithely claims that “a society that allows adults to use alcohol and tobacco cannot sensibly arrest people for marijuana use.” New York Families is not here to support or advocate for the wisdom or safety of using alcohol or tobacco. Nevertheless, this statement should not go unanswered. A society most certainly can sensibly arrest people for marijuana use even if it allows the use of alcohol or tobacco. The reason is simple: A society could reasonably conclude that a person who is hallucinating (which can sometimes happen when a person smokes just one joint) is a greater danger to themselves and others than a person who has had a glass of wine with dinner or a person who has smoked a cigarette.
The Times also claims that marijuana “is safer than alcohol and tobacco in some ways.” Even if this (debatable) claim is true, it is not necessarily an argument for pot legalization, but for more limits on alcohol and tobacco.
[2] It seems that the Times wants to be congratulated for its willingness to re-evaluate its position on this issue in the light of “recent evidence” of the negative results of an overly-permissive approach to marijuana. Any congratulations should not be overly effusive. The truth is that there was plenty of evidence of the dangers of marijuana in past years; it was just unfashionable to speak up about that evidence.
[3] Furthermore, the Times invites the government to set an arbitrary limit on the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) within marijuana. THC is the substance within marijuana that causes users to get high. Barring criminalization of marijuana, this approach may not be completely without merit.
Image Credit: NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 3: A New Yorker smokes a joint in Washington Square Park after Governor Cuomo signed a bill to legalize recreational use marijuana on April 3, 2021 in New York City. (Shutterstock.com/1949215393 Ron Adar)