GOSHEN – As Governor Cuomo prepares to push to legalize recreational marijuana in New York, area law enforcement is cautioning about the idea.
Orange County Emergency Services Commissioner Brendan Casey, a retired State Police captain, said it could make enforcing roadway laws more difficult.
“We are in the middle of an opioid crisis,” Casey said. “We still have drunk driving as a problem and the governor has announced that he is interested in doing recreational marijuana. It’s not going to be good for roadway safety. We will be sending out some letters to our elected state officials asking them to take a look at their votes on this and possibly piggyback some safety things for the law enforcement officers.”
Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco said legalization could cause more problems.
“In the state of Colorado, traffic accidents since they legalized marijuana are up 67 percent and that takes a major toll on all law enforcement,” Falco said.
One Hudson Valley lawmaker dead set against it is Assemblyman Karl Brabenec (R, Deerpark).
“It’s the wrong idea; it’s the wrong choice for the state,” Brabanec said. “It’s going to make [law enforcement’s] jobs harder. It’s going to cause a lot of problems. I will be a solid ‘no’ if that comes up this year in the legislature.”
The governor is a Democrat and both the Senate and Assembly will have solid Democratic majorities in 2019 and that could pave the way for an affirmative vote on the issue.
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