Andrew Cuomo: Legalize recreational marijuana in New York in 2019

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday offered his most forceful support to date for legalizing recreational marijuana , marking the culmination of a dramatic shift for the governor who called it a "gateway drug" as recently as last year. Cuomo, a Democrat, vowed in a speech in Manhattan to push for legalization within the first 100 days of 2019, saying it was beyond time for the state to deal with the "debilitating criminal stigma" of prior convictions related to the drug. It was the latest step in Cuomo's slow crawl toward supporting marijuana legalization, which he had opposed for much of his first two terms in office before beginning to embrace it this year as neighboring states and Canada moved to allow the drug.Cuomo said legalizing the drug would help end "needless and unjust criminal convictions" for possession, which have disproportionately affected minority communities.Nationwide, 10 states and Washington D.C. have legalized small amounts of the drug for personal use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.