The OCM Opposes NY Gov. Hochul’s Push To Make Cannabis Odor A Probable Cause

Something smells rotten in the Empire State.

A plan for NY police to be able to use the smell of cannabis as evidence that a person was driving impaired has been met with opposition from the state Office of Cannabis Management.

Per Spectrum Local News

The state Office of Cannabis Management and legislative leaders will fight a proposal in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget to allow police to use the smell of cannabis as evidence that a person is driving while impaired — changing a key piece of the 2021 law that legalized recreational use for New York adults.

The governor’s budget would change the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) and revert back to the old statute that permitted the odor or presence of cannabis in a vehicle to determine a probable cause of a crime. 

“That is something that undermines the basic tenets of the MRTA and decriminalization,” OCM acting and deputy Executive Director Felicia A.B. Reid told Spectrum News 1. 

For years under past drug laws, law enforcement used the smell of cannabis to justify seizures, car searches and arrests, which disproportionately led to the incarceration of Black and brown people during the War on Drugs.

The governor’s proposal is part of efforts to crack down on impaired driving in the state, but is expected to be a budget fight with the Legislature.

“We need to figure out in the forthcoming budget how to get that proposal out because it’s not going to work for New York and it’s not going to work for cannabis,” Reid said.

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes authored the MRTA and said she’s ready to push back against attempts to repeal parts of it.

“It needs to be reviewed, not to make changes, but to inform people,” she said after an event about the law in Albany.

The Assembly leader was part of a panel about the law at the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus’ annual conference over the weekend.

“This fight is not over,” she said. “It’s important now more than ever, it’s important to be organized to make sure this legislation isn’t squashed.”