--- title: Gubernatorial Hopeful Cynthia Nixon Wants to Legal Marijuana description: Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon wants to legalize marijuana in New York state, citing that "it's a justice issue." canonical: https://time.com/5236459/cynthia-nixon-marijuana-legalize/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-11T18:32:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:52:03.228Z og:title: Gubernatorial Hopeful Cynthia Nixon Says She Wants to Legalize Marijuana og:description: "It's a justice issue" og:url: https://time.com/5236459/cynthia-nixon-marijuana-legalize/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f349ee239cf1819/69892d5e656a3f7ab4bd41ea/cynthia-nixon-wants-to-legalize-weed-in-new-york.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: The People's State Of The Union Cynthia Nixon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gubernatorial Hopeful Cynthia Nixon Says She Wants to Legalize Marijuana twitter:description: "It's a justice issue" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f349ee239cf1819/69892d5e656a3f7ab4bd41ea/cynthia-nixon-wants-to-legalize-weed-in-new-york.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gubernatorial Hopeful Cynthia Nixon Says She Wants to Legalize Marijuana > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Apr 11, 2018 6:32 PM UTC  Gubernatorial hopeful Cynthia Nixon Gubernatorial hopeful Cynthia Nixon Cindy Ord—Getty Images for We Stand United  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Apr 11, 2018 6:32 PM UTC [Cynthia Nixon](http://time.com/5205954/cynthia-nixon-governor-reactions/), former [_Sex and the City_ star](http://time.com/5220341/sarah-jessica-parker-on-cynthia-nixon/), [longtime political activist](http://time.com/5206095/cynthia-nixon-politics/), and [current New York gubernatorial candidate](http://time.com/5211314/kim-cattrall-cynthia-nixon-governor/), is advocating for [legalizing marijuana](http://time.com/5090018/americans-support-legalizing-marijuana/) in her home state. Nixon, a native New Yorker, made her marijuana views known with a video posted on social media on Wednesday. In the clip, Nixon calls for legalizing recreational marijuana, citing that doing so would not only generate revenue for the state and provide agricultural opportunities for farmers, but that it would also be a way to stop the racism inherent in the war on drugs. “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,” she said. “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?” > [](https://twitter.com/CynthiaNixon/status/984070632588627968) Nixon also pointed out in her video that 80% of New Yorkers who are arrested for marijuana are black and Latino, although the usage rates are the same for white folks. Nixon previously told [_The New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/magazine/cynthia-nixon-wants-to-legalize-it.html) that she “one hundred percent” supported the legalization of marijuana in New York State, citing again that racial inequality played a huge factor. > [](https://twitter.com/CynthiaNixon/status/984124614681989120) “It’s a justice issue,” she said. “We have people, particularly African-American men, sitting in jail for something that white people do with impunity…if you want progressive change, it means you want an increase in opportunity for everybody, and inequality affects communities of color first, and it affects them hardest.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5236459/cynthia-nixon-marijuana-legalize/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5236459/cynthia-nixon-marijuana-legalize/"},"headline":"Gubernatorial Hopeful Cynthia Nixon Says She Wants to Legalize Marijuana","datePublished":"2018-04-11T18:32:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:52:03.228Z","description":"She's \"100%\" for it","url":"https://time.com/5236459/cynthia-nixon-marijuana-legalize/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f349ee239cf1819/69892d5e656a3f7ab4bd41ea/cynthia-nixon-wants-to-legalize-weed-in-new-york.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f349ee239cf1819/69892d5e656a3f7ab4bd41ea/cynthia-nixon-wants-to-legalize-weed-in-new-york.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The People's State Of The Union Cynthia Nixon","caption":"The People's State Of The Union Cynthia Nixon on marijuana","creditText":"Cindy Ord—Getty Images for We Stand United","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5236459/cynthia-nixon-marijuana-legalize/","name":"Gubernatorial Hopeful Cynthia Nixon Says She Wants to Legalize Marijuana"}}]}] ```