Pilar DeJesus with a coalition of protesters urging legislators to pass Marijuana legislation holds a sign against the senate lobby doors at the state Capitol in Albany on Wednesday. Photo: Hans Pennink/AP

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing state lawmakers in New York to approve a measure aimed at decriminalizing marijuana, after Democrats announced Wednesday morning they could not come to an agreement on legalizing the drug for adult, recreational use.

Lawmakers, as of Wednesday afternoon, had not committed to passing the measure, which would replace criminal charges for small amounts of marijuana with violations and allow low-level convictions to be expunged.

Cuomo, in a statement, urged lawmakers to approve the legislation before they leave Albany for the year. They're scheduled to end this year's session Wednesday, but that's likely to drag into Thursday morning.

“Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by laws governing marijuana for far too long and it has to end,” Cuomo said. “I understand the desire to end session today as planned, and will give the legislature a message of necessity to expedite passage if required.”

A message of necessity is something Cuomo hands down to the Legislature when a bill hasn't aged long enough to be considered by lawmakers. Legislation has to wait three days before it's approved in New York.

But lawmakers weren't sure, as of early Wednesday afternoon, whether they were going to take the measure up in the State Senate. State Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, who sponsored the legalization bill, said there were concerns from advocates that it didn't go far enough to eliminate penalties for marijuana-related offenses.

“We still haven't conference what we're doing,” Krueger said. “I think the decrim bill is under consideration in a variety of different directions.”

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, said he expected his chamber to take the measure up, assuming there was no lasting hope of legalizing the drug. Krueger had said in a statement Wednesday morning that the full bill to tax and regulate marijuana sales in New York didn't have enough support to pass.

“If nothing happens, I would think that we would still look to do decriminalization at the very least,” Heastie said.

As of Wednesday, concerns still remained on certain public safety aspects of legalizing marijuana. There's currently no mainstream way to quickly test someone's intoxication for the drug, for example, so charging someone with a driving offense could be complicated if an officer doesn't have the right training.

Lawmakers have also been split about where the revenue from marijuana sales should go. Many have pushed for the money to be redirected to communities that were particularly impacted by the state's drug laws.

Attention turned Wednesday morning to the decriminalization legislation sponsored by State Sen. Jamaal Bailey, D-Bronx. He said they haven't fully discussed the bill, but that it could still come to the floor for a vote before the day is over.

“It's quite possible,” Bailey said. “It's the last day of session, and anything is possible.”

The bill would make possession of small amounts of marijuana punishable by small fines and would classify them as violations rather than crimes. The fine for possessing small amounts would be capped at $50, according to the bill. The fine for possessing more than an ounce of marijuana-related substances would not exceed $200.

The legislation would also allow automatic expungement of low-level marijuana convictions, such as possessing small amounts of marijuana. New York Attorney General Letitia James recently wrote to lawmakers urging them to include the provision in any final marijuana bill they pass this session.

Lawmakers said Wednesday that it's likely that this year's legislative session will end early Thursday morning, or sometime later Thursday. Either way, they're prepared to be in session overnight to continue moving legislation.

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