Op-Ed: Legalizing Marijuana Would Be Misguided

From Rockland County Executive Ed Day

If there was ever any legislation that needed to be totally fleshed out and studied before being enacted, legalizing recreational marijuana is it.

While medical marijuana in non-smokable form has been helping people who have pain, recreational marijuana is not a panacea and may in fact make things worse. We are at a point in history where we are trying to get young people away from drugs; putting a government stamp of approval on the use of drugs is ill-advised.

Health and safety concerns have been raised by the Rockland County Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Ruppert, who gave testimony against this legislation and by Sheriff Louis Falco. As a former law enforcement commander, I hear the concerns being raised by the law enforcement community loud and clear. It is critically important that our elected leaders in Albany take heed of these warnings as well.

If the state legalizes marijuana, I will ask the county Legislature to exercise its "opt out" clause in legislation proposed by the Governor.

This is not about tax dollars this is about the damage that could be caused by government saying it is okay to use this drug. With that damage comes costs, costs to law enforcement, to addiction support programs, to the people using this drug and their families and to our communities. Leaving the counties, local municipalities and residents of NY to pay the price while state government rakes in tax dollars is misguided and irresponsible.