The Syracuse University NewsHouse staff report in the Poughkeepsie Journal that in 2019, with a new Democratic majority, the New York State Legislature looked poised to legalize recreational marijuana. Then Gov. Andrew Cuomo stepped in and blocked the efforts. In 2020 even Cuomo was on board, but then COVID-19 cut the legislative session short, and no action on the issue was taken. Cuomo said it would have to wait until 2021. A January Siena College poll of New York registered voters found that 58 percent supported legalization. “We are going to pass some form of legalization, and you know what, when you consider the incredible deficits that we are going to have as a result of corona, all revenue streams are going to have to be considered … including gambling, online gambling, and things of that nature,” said State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda, a Democrat from the Bronx. Right now some of that potential tax money is going to neighboring Massachusetts, where four legal marijuana stores near the state border have re-opened after shutting recreational sales during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more about this story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.