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The MRTA Story — How New York Legalized Cannabis

Seven years of failure, a rivalry with New Jersey, a governor's scandals, and the pandemic. The story of how the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act finally became law.

Last verified: March 2026

Six Years of Failure

Senator Liz Krueger first introduced the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act in December 2013. For six consecutive years, the bill died in Albany. The political dynamics were straightforward: the State Senate, controlled by Republicans and a breakaway faction of Democrats called the Independent Democratic Caucus, refused to move forward.

Cuomo's Reluctant Conversion

Governor Andrew Cuomo was a reluctant convert to legalization. A primary challenge from actress Cynthia Nixon in 2018 pushed him leftward, and he ordered the Department of Health to study legalization. The study recommended it.

Cuomo proposed his own competing bill — the Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act — in his 2019 State of the State address. But his version concentrated power in the governor's office, carried higher tax rates, and offered weaker equity provisions. NORML graded Krueger's MRTA an "A-" and Cuomo's plan a "C-." The legislature refused to accept the governor's framework.

Three Forces Converged in 2021

Nov 2020

New Jersey Legalizes

NJ voters approved legalization, creating a competitive threat that Albany couldn't ignore. Thousands of New York consumers would cross the Hudson.

Jan 2021

Senate Supermajority

The 2020 elections gave Senate Democrats a supermajority, removing the Republican veto that had blocked legalization for years.

Early 2021

Cuomo's Scandals

Mounting sexual harassment scandals made Cuomo, as Krueger put it, "looking for things to move that would be popular."

The Moral Urgency

The pandemic's disproportionate devastation of Black and brown communities — the same communities ravaged by decades of cannabis enforcement — lent moral urgency to the cause. Data showed that 94% of NYPD marijuana arrests targeted Black or Hispanic New Yorkers despite similar usage rates across racial groups. The injustice was undeniable.

Passage

On March 30, 2021, the MRTA passed the Senate 40-23 and the Assembly 100-49. Governor Cuomo signed it the next day. Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes of Buffalo declared: "Unlike any other state in this nation, this legislation is intentionally about equity."

What the MRTA Promised

  • Immediate legalization of up to 3 ounces
  • Automatic expungement of 108,000-150,000 prior convictions
  • 50% of all licenses for social equity applicants
  • 40% of tax revenue to communities harmed by prohibition
  • Creation of the Office of Cannabis Management

It was the most ambitious cannabis equity framework in the country. The question was whether New York could deliver on it. For the answer, see The Troubled Rollout.

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