April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and as summer gets closer, AAA wants to warn drivers to be even more aware.

Construction season is getting underway, kids are out on the street, teenagers are learning how to drive and local law enforcement fear the legalization of marijuana will be one more thing to worry about.

Tuesday is April 20, also known across the nation as the counter-culture holiday 4/20. It's a day people celebrate the use of marijuana. Now that the drug has been legalized for recreational use in New York, law enforcement and AAA want to make sure the public knows not to celebrate it behind the wheel.

"Marijuana, the psychoactive component THC, which is different than CBD. THC has a very similar effect on the body as alcohol. It will relax you, diminish your ability to make proper social decisions, ability to do divided attention tasks is diminished and that's what driving is all about. That would be concerning when you get behind the wheel of the car," said Lt. Rick Bancroft of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Bancroft says other states that have legalized marijuana, like Colorado and Washington, soon saw a spike in accidents caused by impaired drivers and a rise in fatalities.

AAA says drivers who use both marijuana and alcohol are more likely to speed, drive aggressively and text while driving. The agency says in 2019, there were roughly nine deaths per day across the country due to distracted driving.

In New York alone, 110 people died in 2019 as a result of distracted driving.

AAA says it opposes the legalization of marijuana because it can compromise safety on the road.