GOP governor hopeful seeks to save subway by legalizing pot

A Republican gubernatorial candidate says the subway system has gone to pot and now he wants to legalize recreational marijuana to help fix it.
Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra says he’d dedicate all the tax revenue generated by legalizing recreational pot to help fund needed transportation improvements.

“Adult use of marijuana can produce revenue for the state that can rebuild the MTA and our roads and bridges throughout the state,” said a source close to Giambra. “Many of our neighboring states now allow for adult use and New York will miss out on billions in revenue and further expand the black market.”
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GOP governor hopeful seeks to save subway by legalizing pot
BY KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, January 15, 2018, 4:00 AM

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GOP gubernatorial candidate Joel Giambra (r.) is expected to release his marijuana legalization proposal later in the campaign.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Joel Giambra (r.) is expected to release his marijuana legalization proposal later in the campaign. (JIM MCKNIGHT/AP)
A Republican gubernatorial candidate says the subway system has gone to pot and now he wants to legalize recreational marijuana to help fix it.

Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra says he’d dedicate all the tax revenue generated by legalizing recreational pot to help fund needed transportation improvements.

“Adult use of marijuana can produce revenue for the state that can rebuild the MTA and our roads and bridges throughout the state,” said a source close to Giambra. “Many of our neighboring states now allow for adult use and New York will miss out on billions in revenue and further expand the black market.”

Giambra is expected to put out a formal proposal later in the campaign, the source said. Reform Party Chairman Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, said Giambra raised the issue of legalizing pot during a meeting last week to discuss the minor ballot line.

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Giambra says he would use the tax revenue generated from legalizing pot to help fund MTA repairs.
Giambra says he would use the tax revenue generated from legalizing pot to help fund MTA repairs. (SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES)
Eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational pot, including Massachusetts and California. New Jersey Gov.-elect Phil Murphy supports the idea as well.

But U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced the repeal of a 2013 Obama-era policy that protected legalized marijuana programs in various states from federal prosecutor intervention.

“As both a cancer survivor and someone who has seen the devastation of opioid addiction, Joel believes, and medical research supports, that prescribing marijuana to ease pain diverts people from becoming addicted to much harder drugs,” the Giambra source said.
Giambra also believes the current opioid crisis “is a direct result of a pay-to-play culture where government for years turned a blind eye in return for contributions from big pharma — resulting in the . . . opioid epidemic,” the source said.