CARMEL – Putnam County
Executive MaryEllen Odell’s signature on a local law prohibiting
the sale and possession of synthetic drugs anywhere in the county has
prompted county legislators to urge New York State lawmakers to follow
suit.
The county legislature has adopted a resolution urging the county’s
state lawmakers – Senator Sue Serino, Senator-elect Peter Harckham,
Assemblywoman Sandy Galef and Assemblyman Kevin Byrne, to introduce and
support a bill similar to Putnam County’s.
Outgoing Legislator Barbara Scuccimarra who chairs the Health Committee
noted that New York State is experiencing “increased crimes, emergency
room cases, illnesses and deaths linked to the use of synthetic drugs
and other similar substances that are openly sold or marketed throughout
the state as well as online.”
Legislature Chairman Joseph Castellano added while the state has updated
its schedule of controlled substances, “many new variants of these
substances are able to avoid prohibition by slightly changing their chemical
composition. While our local law is in place, synthetic drugs will be
more effectively regulated on a statewide basis through a comprehensive
regulatory plan that covers existing as well as newly created drug variants
rather than through a patchwork of regulations enacted by individual municipalities.”
The resolution was unanimously approved and forwarded to the governor
in addition to Putnam’s delegation in Albany.
