New York State Moves Toward Legalized Recreational Marijuana

The Hill: New York Senate Passes Bill To Legalize Recreational Marijuana
The New York state Senate passed a measure that would legalize recreational marijuana Tuesday night, the Albany Times Union reported. The bill, which is estimated to help bring in $350 million in annual revenue for New York, passed the Senate with a 40-23 vote Tuesday night. Three Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill. The measure is also expected to pass the Assembly later Tuesday night, the Times Union noted. (Polus, 3/30)

Politico: New York Legislature Votes To Legalize Adult-Use, Recreational Cannabis
New York state lawmakers voted late Tuesday to legalize adult-use cannabis and create the country’s second-largest recreational marijuana market, setting the stage for the Empire State to officially join 16 other states that have embraced full legalization. The “Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act” NY S854 (21R) / NY A1248 (21R) cleared the Assembly and Senate after hours of debate on the bill’s proposed regulatory structure, public safety and health implications. It now awaits final approval from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has said he looks forward “to signing this legislation into law." (Young, 3/30)

AP: Lawmakers OK Arizona Business Pandemic Liability Shield
The Arizona Senate voted Tuesday to give businesses, nursing homes and others a broad shield from lawsuits related to COVID-19, joining the House in approving the measure and sending it to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey for his expected signature. Senate Republicans approved the measure in a 16-14 party-line vote.. GOP House members approved it Monday on a 31-29 vote with no Democratic support. Republicans said businesses struggled during the pandemic and shouldn’t have to worry about the potential for frivolous lawsuits. (3/30)

The Baltimore Sun: Public Health Experts Urge Caution In Maryland As COVID Cases, Positivity Rate Rise 
Maryland residents have reached another turning point in the coronavirus pandemic, public health experts say, as the state sees rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and a spiking testing positivity rate — signs that the public health crisis continues to rage even as more people get inoculated against it. “This is the time for all officials to urge caution,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a former Baltimore health commissioner and public health professor at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “We need to keep wearing masks in public places, and we need to be very diligent about avoiding crowded indoor gatherings for those who are not yet vaccinated.” (Miller, 3/30)

The Baltimore Sun: ‘If I Don’t Do It, Who’s Going To Help Them?’: Maryland Group Works To Ensure Equity In COVID Vaccine Access 
In the minutes before the clock struck midnight and Thursday melted into Friday, María Peterson had her desk ready for battle. Two laptops with color-coded spreadsheets were open, neon sticky notes surrounded the screens and a desk lamp dimly lit the room that Peterson rarely used until the coronavirus pandemic hit and it became her ground zero. Twenty minutes passed and Peterson, a Columbia resident, was calling the night a flop. “Right now I’m sitting here waiting and wondering how long do I wait?” (Faguy, 3/31)

WJCT 89.9 FM Jacksonville: No Lines, High Spirits At Jax Vax Sites As Florida Eligibility Age Drops To 40 
People who are 40 and older are now eligible for the coronavirus vaccine in Florida, and at Jacksonville’s two major vaccination sites, the lines were short when WJCT News stopped by - and people’s spirits were high. “It’s emotional,” said Amy Love, 45, as she exited the vaccination site at the Gateway Town Center. “I’m very grateful and happy, and this was very efficient, and everyone was really nice.” (Boles, 3/30)

Axios: Colorado Tries To Combat COVID Vaccine Hesitancy 
Colorado announced it will make COVID-19 vaccines available to everyone over 16 starting Friday. The problem is that not everyone wants one. The vaccine-hesitant population in Colorado shrank since September, but remains persistent, according to a recent poll commissioned by the state and obtained by Axios. (Frank, 3/30)

WLRN 91.3: Homebound Seniors Can Sign Up For Door-To-Door Vaccine Program 
More than 5,200 elderly Floridians have been vaccinated as part of the state’s door-to-door effort to inoculate homebound seniors. The program, which launched in February, was created to help vaccinate seniors who have limited mobility or don’t feel comfortable leaving their homes. After 1,500 people were inoculated in a trial run, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced March 11 they would be expanding the program for seniors to “have the vaccine come directly to them.” (3/30)

Tampa Bay Times: How Life Changed For 10 Florida Health Experts Who Got Coronavirus Vaccines
As Florida continues to roll out coronavirus vaccines, some health experts who were among the first to receive shots are taking baby steps back toward regular life. Ten from across the state spoke with the Tampa Bay Times about how they’ve changed their habits since vaccination. They specialize in infectious diseases, public health and epidemiology. One is at the forefront of the effort to make the state’s vaccine distribution equitable. Another is head of operations at Tampa Greyhound Track, where thousands of doses are administered each day. (Reeves and Weber, 3/30)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Comptroller Joins Calls For Hogan, Health Department To Sever Ties With Redfield Over COVID Comments 
Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot has joined the chorus of elected officials in Maryland urging the state to sever its ties with Dr. Robert Redfield, the former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under President Donald Trump who currently serves as an unpaid adviser to Gov. Larry Hogan. Last week, Redfield’s comments endorsing an unproven theory that the coronavirus “most likely” escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, went public, drawing the ire of several state lawmakers who called on Redfield to walk back his statements or step down from his post. (Miller, 3/30)

Tampa Bay Times: Times Project Exposing Lead Dangers At Florida Factory Cost About $500,000
Inside Florida’s lone lead smelter, hundreds of workers have been exposed to alarming levels of poisons... Factory workers break down 50,000 used car batteries a day. They extract the lead, melt it in furnaces and reforge it into new blocks. Employees have had so much of the neurotoxin in their blood that it can severely damage their health, and the company gave workers respirators that didn’t protect them when poison levels spiked. (Katches, 3/31)

KHN: Durango’s Covid ‘Cowboy’ Rounds Up Spring Break Scofflaws, Lines ’Em Up For Shots
Bartenders were pouring Old-Fashioneds at a bar with a bullet hole straight through the wood. Servers in corsets and fishnet stockings roamed the room, passing an old piano that, twice a week, fills the building with ragtime tunes. It was a Friday evening at the Diamond Belle Saloon on the main drag in Durango, Colorado. Outside, a man in boots, a cowboy hat and a button-down vest adorned with a U.S. marshal badge patrolled the block, eyes scanning the streets for trouble. If trouble were to appear, it would likely take the form of errant Texans. (Ellen Bichell, 3/31)

The New York Times: Why Virus Tests At One Elite School Ran Afoul Of Regulators
It was supposed to be a pandemic triumph, a way for a prestigious school to keep its doors open when many others could not. Instead, the coronavirus testing program at New Trier High School, outside Chicago, offers a cautionary lesson about what happens when educators are asked to take on public health responsibilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged school administrators to implement regular testing of students in order to identify coronavirus outbreaks before they become more widespread. Late last year, New Trier, which serves families from some of Chicago’s most affluent suburbs, rolled out a $1.3 million testing campaign, part of an ambitious plan to keep classrooms open for the school year regardless of rising infection rates in the community. (Mandavilli, 3/30)