Supporters back medicinal marijuana in NYC, wants medical pot to be legal in the city

Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced his initiative to make New York the 21st state in the United States to allow the medical use of marijuana but some of his counterparts have already have their sights set solely on New York City.

According to Capital New York, Patricia Lynch, one of Albany's most powerful lobbyists had this to say:

"With the governor now moving statewide toward his pilot project, efforts are underway to craft a viable New York City-only medical marijuana bill."

Lynch also noted that lobbyists have "been in conversations with national advocates for more than a month." She went on to add that she expected this to be "one of the issues folks will be looking at as the City Council gets underway."

Lynch is hopeful that they will be successful. She believes that advocates will be able to craft a New York City-specific piece of legislation that won't require Albany approval.

One possible way of doing so would be to require nonprofit medical marijuana purveyors to pay a registration fee, but not a tax, since all new taxes (aside from property tax hikes) require state legislative approval.

Both Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Mayor Bill de Blasio would have to approve such a measure. Neither have commented.

Cuomo announced his initiative on Wednesday (Jan. 8).

This comes after Colorado recently opened a slew of pot shops that legally sell marijuana for recreational use.

A total of 24 shops opened in Colorado on Wednesday (Jan. 1). Most of the shops opened in Denver.