Curran: No Legalized Marijuana In Nassau County

In her State of the County Address Tuesday night, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran announced that she would opposed the sale of recreational marijuana in the county if it becomes legal in New York.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made legalizing recreational marijuana a priority of 2019. But under his proposal, municipalities could opt out of selling marijuana. It is something that Curran, a Democrat, hopes the County Legislature will do.

"Over the past several months, I have personally received input from community leaders, school leaders, village officials and healthcare professionals a well," Curran said from the stage at Nassau Coliseum, where she was giving her speech. "So tonight, I am announcing that I will not support recreational marijuana sales in Nassau County."

Curran could not enact the policy by herself. She would need to get the County Legislature to pass a law opting out of marijuana sales. But Curran was firm in her opposition.

"Let me say it again: no legalized recreational marijuana sales in Nassau County," she said. "This is not the time."

While legalized marijuana has been popular with many people, it has also received a lot of blowback, especially from other government officials.

The morning after Curran's announcement, the Nassau County Village Officials Association and the Suffolk County Village Officials Association sent out a joint press release announcing their opposition to legalizing recreational marijuana.

“If passed, the proposed legislation will negatively affect almost every aspect of village life from economics to public health to law enforcement,” said NCVOA President and Village of Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand. “NCVOA is steadfast in our opposition to this unwise and harmful legislation.”

Nassau County would join a growing list of municipalities on Long Island that opposed the governor's plan. The Town of North Hempstead has already preemptively banned marijuana sales, and the Town of Hempstead is considering a year-long ban on recreational pot sales. Suffolk County legislators have also proposed banning recreational marijuana there.