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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Just a Pipe Dream? Odds on NY Legalizing Pot Weighed

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Monday, December 16, 2013   

NEW YORK - A bill that would legalize marijuana in New York State was introduced last week. The measure would regulate the sale of pot and tax it, treating it similarly to alcohol.

State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) was not fazed by a statement from Gov. Cuomo's office that her marijuana bill is a "non-starter." So was marriage equality and the elimination of the punitive Rockefeller drug laws, the senator said.

"I could pull out a very long list of bills that were 'non-starters' since I started in the Senate that actually became 'starters' and got done," Krueger said. "So, that's fine."

If New York were to become the third state - after Washington and Colorado - to legalize pot, Krueger said marijuana could very quickly become a $3 billion industry.

Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Republicans, said in response to Krueger's bill that the GOP has different priorities.

"We're focused on cutting taxes to create jobs, so families can stay in New York," Reif said.

Krueger pointed out that legalizing marijuana would do just that: create jobs.

"It starts as an agricultural product, and it would be moving through to a retail sales model," Krueger said. "So yes, you would create jobs, and yes, you would create enormous amounts of tax revenue."

Krueger added that she has seen Gov. Cuomo change his mind on issues in the past, and hopes he can do so again.

"I think it's important to understand that I do believe we are at a tipping point in this country," she said. "Not only are states doing exactly this, but public opinion polls show that the public wants this."

She said in 2010, there were 100,000 marijuana arrests in New York State, 97 percent of them for possession. She also pointed out that African Americans are far more likely to be arrested than whites, despite similar rates of pot use among both groups.




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