GO WITH AFP STORY by Desiree Martin A picture taken on April 12, 2013 shows plants of marijuana at the plantation of the Sibaratas Med Can association in Mogan on the southwest coast of the island of Gran Canaria. The plants grow from cuttings for approximately two months and then blossom before being harvested, dried, stored in jars for a month and later processed to be consumed on site. Spanish law prohibits the possession of soft drugs like cannabis in public and its growth to be sold for profit is illegal. But the law does tolerate growing cannabis for personal use and its consumption in private. Dozens of private marijuana smoking clubs operate across Spain that take advantage of this legal loophole that serve cannabis users who do not want to get their drugs from the streets. AFP PHOTO / DESIREE MARTIN (Photo credit should read DESIREE MARTIN/AFP/Getty Images)
Will recreational marijuana soon be legal nationwide?
02:11 - Source: CNNMoney
CNN  — 

State leaders in New York failed to reach a consensus Wednesday on key details in the state’s plan to legalize recreational marijuana, flattening a final push from Democratic leaders hoping to pass an agreement this year.

Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who sponsored the bill, confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that the legislation will not pass this year. The New York State Assembly’s legislative session began in January and was scheduled to end on Wednesday.

“It is clear now that MRTA is not going to pass this session. We came very close to crossing the finish line, but we ran out of time,” Krueger said, referring to the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act.

Democratic lawmakers in support of legalization lamented the delay. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo cited the bill’s potential to end racially disproportionate policing around the drug as a reason to try again in the future.

“Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by laws governing marijuana for far too long, and it has to end,” Cuomo said.

Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes of Buffalo called the bill “an opportunity to expunge the records of thousands of New Yorkers” in a tweet responding to the legislation’s failure.

Krueger said that while the bill failed to pass this session, it is “only a delay.” Progressive lawmakers will continue the push for legalization next year, she said.

But, Krueger added, “that delay means countless more New Yorkers will have their lives upended by unnecessary and racially disparate enforcement measures before we inevitably legalize.”