ALBANY LOBBY DAY 2020 by david hernandez
The HappyMunkey crew made our way to the New York State Capital up in Albany for the 2020 Start SMART NY & NORML NY Cannabis Lobby Day! We had an inspirational time in Albany seeing the New York Cannabis community from far and wide come together to voice support for Cannabis legalization. Before hitting the halls of the capital, we met in the capital’s lunch room to game plan our lobbying efforts. We then were divided into groups based on the New York county we resided in, and team leaders were appointed to help guide us from the various meetings with state politicians. Our friends at High Mi Madre, Pilar DeJesus and Emily Ramos fearlessly led our team into the capital chanting and holding signs that proudly read “We Want Home Grow” & “We Need Consumption Lounges”.
For those who do not know, the 2020 New York legislative session began back on January 8th and will continue until it’s close in June. This year New York has the special opportunity of making up for the last legislative session’s short fall to legalize cannabis in the state. Last year New York came extremely close to legalizing cannabis for recreational adult use but ultimately balked. Cannabis legalization was added to this year’s draft of the NY Budget, making it very possible New York might actually take the 16 f o o dy m a g | i s s u e 0 1
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