ALBANY β New York moved a significant step closer to legalizing recreational marijuana, as a study commissioned by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will recommend that the state allow adults to consume marijuana legally, the governorβs health commissioner said on Monday.
The announcement by the commissioner, Howard Zucker, signals a broad turnaround for the administration of Mr. Cuomo, a second-term Democrat who said as recently as last year that marijuana was a βgateway drug.β
βWe looked at the pros, we looked at the cons, and when we were done, we realized that the pros outweighed the cons,β Dr. Zucker said, adding, βwe have new facts.β
The findings of the report, which was initialized in January and has not been finalized, could pave the way for New York to join a roster of states that have already legalized the drug, including California, Colorado and Washington.
A senior administration official with knowledge of the governorβs thinking said on Monday that legalization efforts by New Jersey and Massachusetts had helped shift his thinking early this year. βIt was no longer βif,ββ the person said, βbut βhow.ββ
Even with the governorβs support, the path to legalization in New York still faces legislative hurdles, as well as logistical questions. It would require the approval of the State Legislature, which is unlikely to take up the issue in its last days of session, which ends Wednesday.
If it were to be considered, the Republican-led Senate has signaled that it would be less receptive to legalizing marijuana than the Democratic-led Assembly. Still, Senate Democrats β who have expressed measured support of legal marijuana β stand only one seat short of capturing the majority, and the fall elections could leave them in charge.
Either way, the administrationβs support of legal marijuana would give Mr. Cuomo a retort to critics of his past opposition as well as to his Democratic primary opponent, the actress Cynthia Nixon, who has already fully embraced the idea of legalization.
The reportβs findings show that βNew York has passed the point where this is a question,β said Kassandra Frederique, the New York State director at the Drug Policy Alliance.
What exactly such a program would look like in New York State is an open question; the stateβs 2014 medical marijuana law, which came after more than 20 other states had established such programs, was heavily criticized during its early years for being too restrictive and ineffective, though changes have since been made. But marijuana is still not allowed to be smoked in the medical program β the drug is available in oil forms, among others β a stipulation of Mr. Cuomoβs, who had insisted on strict controls.
Dr. Zucker said that the report on recreational usage was done in consultation with βexperts from all across the government,β including specialists in public safety, public health, and economics, including taxation. He said that group had considered a wide range of issues β including the age of allowed use, impaired driving, and production and distribution β and concluded that legal marijuana could be done statewide.
Dr. Zucker made his remarks to reporters after making an announcement in Brooklyn regarding the finalizing of regulations to allow those using or abusing prescription opioids to qualify for the stateβs medical marijuana program.
Mr. Cuomo has been saying that the report from the health department would be done for several weeks, but on Monday, his office said only that they would βreview the report when we receive it.β
Dr. Zucker said the report would come out βsoon,β adding that βthe governor had charged me, over the years, with a lot of reports that he wanted me to put forward. And he knows I like to cross all my Tβs and dot all my Iβs.β
Ms. Nixonβs campaign seized on the news of the long-awaited report as a sign of the reactive nature of the Mr. Cuomoβs recent governance, which has included several efforts to appease voters on the left. Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for Ms. Nixonβs campaign, said, βIt shouldnβt have taken Cuomo eight yearsβ and a challenge from Ms. Nixon βto understand the βfacts have changed.ββ
Ms. Nixon has made the issue a centerpiece of her insurgent campaign, framing the idea as a criminal justice reform, noting that smoking marijuana is βsomething that white people do with impunity,β while members of minority groups are disproportionately arrested and tried for possession and other drug crimes.
Ms. Hitt added that Ms. Nixon has also called for expunging peopleβs records of marijuana-related offenses. βWe must go further,β Ms. Hitt said.
Lis Smith, a spokeswoman for the Cuomo campaign, shot back at Ms. Nixon, who is trailing Mr. Cuomo by a large margin. βThe governor ordered this study in January,β she said. βEven if her campaign is in freefall, Cynthia Nixon doesnβt get to just make things up.β
Mr. Cuomoβs Republican opponent, Marcus Molinaro, also criticized Mr. Zuckerβs announcement, saying the governor was βsprinting to the leftβ because of Ms. Nixon. βThere are serious questions to be answered about marijuana,β said Katy Delgado, Mr. Molinaroβs spokeswoman. βThey should be answered by serious people without a political agenda.β
Ms. Frederique, of the Drug Policy Alliance, said that any state policy on recreational marijuana should also address the fallout from its old policies, including New Yorkers who had suffered consequences in housing, employment, child care and immigration because they were tainted by a marijuana arrest.
βHow are we going to center the communities most impacted?β Ms. Frederique asked. βAnd how are we going to repair the harm in a way thatβs as comprehensive as the damage that was done?β
The commissionerβs comments come as the New York City mayor and police commissioner prepare to unveil a new marijuana enforcement policy on Tuesday after convening a 30-day working group to review the issue last month.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has directed the Police Department to come up with a policy to βend unnecessary arrests,β and the police commissioner, James P. OβNeill, has conceded that at least some arrests βhave no impact on public safety.β
In New York City, black people were arrested on low-level marijuana charges at eight times the rate of white people over the last three years. The Police Department has blamed the disparity on complaints from residents about marijuana, but a New York Times analysis found that among neighborhoods where people called to complain about marijuana at the same rate, the police almost always made arrests at a higher rate in the area with more black residents.