Blair Gibbs will join PM Boris Johnson's administration after stepping down as senior policy analyst for industry group Centre for Medicinal Cannabis.
A recent report shows that a prominent anti-cannabis lawmaker may be biased.
Representative Jerry Nadler said marijuana should be viewed as an issue of personal choice and public health.
The Homegrown Act of 2019 aims to "act as a poverty-buster."
“The War on Drugs has not been a war on drugs, it’s been a war on people."
The bipartisan measure was approved with a vote of 267 to 165.
The governor's reluctance to legalize hemp echoes the state's feelings in the 1980s towards raising the drinking age.
