Legislation legalizing recreational cannabis in New York state could be published as soon as this weekend.
Asked when the bill language would be released, the author of the legislation, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes told Capital Tonight, “We might see the whole megillah by Saturday.”
But the bill has some local officials concerned.
Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro told Capital Tonight that the reported 1% in sales tax revenues earmarked for counties simply isn’t enough for the level of government that provides most of the public health services.
"What we do know in New York is if there's a public health concern, as we know certainly from these last 12 months, it is the county government that provides the public health response and the public health monitoring and the public health assistance for those who may not have it any other way,” Molinaro said.
But Peoples-Stokes told Capital Tonight that there’s more to the bill than what has been reported.
“That’s what happens when we only put out part of the information,” she said. “What Mr. Molinaro doesn’t know is that 20% of all the revenues will be invested in services that counties deliver.”
The majority leader specified mental health services, substance abuse prevention, drug awareness training, and drug treatment.
But one issue still remains to be buttoned up: The question of how to measure whether the THC in a user’s blood stream is causing impairment.
“The only thing that we’re waiting to come to grips with is how vehicle and traffic laws are dealt with,” Peoples-Stokes explained.
She told Capital Tonight that while safety is critical, she’s not interested in “further criminalizing” people for impaired driving since simply having THC in the blood stream doesn’t necessarily mean one is impaired.
“There are almost 150,000 people in the state of New York who are medical marijuana patients, as we speak. And this is a multiple billion-dollar underground business, so there are tons of people who are already driving around in our communities with THC in their system. That doesn’t mean they are impaired,” she explained.
The legislation includes funding for a study to determine whether someone is THC-impaired.