New York State Insider: New York State Conservative Party: Statement from New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar.

 

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.”