Cynthia Nixon has quickly become the darling of New York's cannabis scene. The actress-turned-Gubernatorial candidate adopted the marijuana issue with a series of recent comments culminating on Apr. 11 with an official statement.
'In 2018, in a blue state like New York, marijuana shouldn't even be an issue. If there was more political courage coming out of Albany we would've done this a long time ago.'
TRANSCRIPT OF CYNTHIA NIXON'S PRO-CANNABIS STATEMENT
"I believe it's time for New York to follow the lead of eight other states and DC and legalize recreational marijuana. There are a lot of good reasons for legalizing marijuana, but for me it comes down to this: We have to stop putting people of color in jail for something that white people do with impunity. Eighty percent of the New Yorkers arrested for marijuana are black or Latino, despite the fact that whites and people of color use marijuana at roughly the same rates. The consequences follow people for the rest of their lives, making it harder for them to get housing or jobs. And for non-citizens, putting them directly in the crosshairs for deportation. In addition to ending a key front in the racist War on Drugs, regulating and taxing marijuana would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for our people and create important agricultural opportunities for our state. In 2018, in a blue state like New York, marijuana shouldn't even be an issue. If there was more political courage coming out of Albany we would've done this a long time ago. The simple truth is for white people the use of marijuana has effectively been legal for a long time. Isn't it time we legalize it for everybody else?"
CYNTHIA NIXON ON THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT
On April 18, Nixon was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The host saved the marijuana discussion for last (cue to 8:20), starting with asking her if she was high. "I am not high right now," Nixon replied, before divulging:
"I've only smoked pot twice in my life. It's so embarassing. It wasn't for me."
However, she stressed like she did in her official statement about marijuana, "I think there are a lot of reasons why we should legalize marijuana here. Number one is it's a racial justice issue. In the City of New York, for example, if you're a person of color, you're 10 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than if you're white. For all intents and purposes, for white people, marijuana has been effectively legal for a long time. I think it's time to make it legal for everybody else."
BASICS ON NIXON'S ENTRY INTO POLITICS
Cynthia Nixon is challenging two-term Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the 2018 race. Left of Cuomo on most issues, Nixon shares many of the progressive opinions espoused by Mayor Bill de Blasio, who tacitly has backed her. It's another wedge between the Governor and the Mayor, who don't get along. Cuomo has called marijuana a gateway drug and demanded that the state's medical program be very restrictive. Nixon's marijuana advocacy was revealed on Apr. 3 when the New York Times reported that she'd called for marijuana legalization at an Upper West Side of Manhattan fundraiser the week before. Only eight days later she took an offical stand on pot.
MIRANDA AND SEX AND THE CITY
Nixon is best known for her role as Miranda Hobbes on 94 episodes of Sex in the City on HBO from 1998-2004, plus the two Sex in the City movies. Wikipedia describes Miranda as "a career-oriented lawyer with cynical views on relationships and men." Nixon won a Supporting Actress Emmy for Sex in the City in 2004. She also won an Emmy for Janis Donovan in 2008. Among her many roles since then was Nancy Reagan in 2016's Killing Reagan, which is ironic since the President's wife was so instrumental in the "Just Say No" to drugs campaign in the '80s.
