In March, both states seemed days away from a landmark legalization deal. Now inertia is feeding doubts t hat it can happen this year.
A push to legalize recreational marijuana in New York and New Jersey this year appears all but dead in both states, a dramatic fall for an effort that just over a month ago seemed inevitable.
For months, the two states were locked in a race to legalize, vying for millions in tax revenue and progressive bragging rights. But at the end of March, the campaign in New Jersey abruptly collapsed, hours before a vote was supposed to take place.
New Jersey’s failure had a coattail effect in New York: It emboldened opponents and eased pressure on some of legalization’s most important allies, including Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who had declared legalization a priority for the first 100 days of the session.
But as that deadline approached, Mr. Cuomo declared that negotiations were too complicated; within days of New Jersey’s failure, the effort in New York, too, was shelved.