For Immediate Release: March 30, 2021
Statement from New York State Conservative
Party Chairman Gerard Kassar.
Brooklyn, NY - “To say New York is going to pot may be the
understatement of the decade. Today’s legislation to create the ‘New York
Office of Cannabis Management’ sounds like a bad joke. If only it were
funny.
“Democrats in Albany, led by scandal-scarred Gov. Andrew Cuomo,
know that legalizing recreational marijuana will come at significant human
cost, but all they seem to care about is more tax revenue. Their indifference
to human suffering is unconscionable.
“Study after study has shown that marijuana use among teens — make
no mistake about it, teen use will go up — can cause significant psychological
damage and lead to use of even more dangerous drugs. We also know that traffic
injuries and fatalities will increase because of stoned drivers on our roads,
and a percentage of first-time marijuana users will become addicts.
“We also know from other states that black-market drug sales
actually increase after legalization, and those illicit drug pipelines often
include counterfeit prescription pills and deadly narcotics like heroin and
fentanyl. The cost of treating the addictions that will ensue from this
legislation will likely cost far more than any revenue it would generate.
Indeed, for every $1 of tax revenue in alcohol and tobacco tax revenues,
society loses $10 in social costs according to SAM-Smart Approaches to
Marijuana.
“Mark Twain said the darnedest thing: It’s easier to keep out of
something than to get out of something. He was, of course, right, and Twain’s
advice is our advice to the New York State Legislature. Keep out of the drug
business. It will not end well.”
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