Cynthia Nixon Wants New York to Legalize Weed Because It's 'Effectively' Legal for White People Already

She'd already publicly expressed support for the measure, but she went into greater detail as to why she thinks it should be done, calling the current system racist.

"For me, it comes down to this," Nixon said. "We have to stop putting people of color in jail for something that white people do with impunity. 80 percent of the New Yorkers who are arrested for marijuana are black or Latino, despite the fact that whites and people of color use marijuana at roughly the same rates."

Later in the video, she went so far as to say that "for white people the use of marijuana has effectively been legal for a long time." She then asked, "Isn't it time we legalize it for everybody else?

Nixon also discussed the benefits of legalization, saying, "In addition to ending a key front in the racist war on drugs, regulating and taxing marijuana would generate hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue for our people and create important agricultural opportunities for our state."

Her emphatic message tying marijuana arrests to race echoes sentiments she shared on "The Wendy Williams Show" last week, where she said she was for legalizing marijuana. She told Williams that black women are "the backbone of the Democratic Party," adding that "black women are going to stop showing up for the Democratic party, if the Democratic Party doesn't start showing up for them."

The actress-turned-politician further said, "If we're going to say Black Lives Matter, we have to mean it and we have to implement change." Based on the statistics Nixon cited, legalizing marijuana and keeping that many more people of color out of New York prisons for these drug charges would be a step in that direction.

Check out a full transcript of Nixon's statement below.

Hi, I'm Cynthia Nixon. A lot of you have been asking about my position on marijuana, so here it is. I believe it's time for New York to follow the lead of either other states and DC, and legalize recreational marijuana. 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. 80 percent of the New Yorkers who are arrested for marijuana are black or Latino, despite the fact that whites and people of color use marijuana at roughly the same rates. The consequences follow people for the rest of their lives, making it harder to get jobs, or housing, and for noncitizens, putting them in the crosshairs for deportation. In addition to ending a key front in the racist war on drugs, regulating and taxing marijuana would generate hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue for our people and create important agricultural opportunities for our state. In 2018, in a blue state like New York, marijuana shouldn't even be an issue. If there was more political courage coming out of Albany we would have done this already. 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?