Lohud 7 March 2019
Family First Comment: “As a society, we’ve been unable to stop the things we seem to think are legally allowable for adults from filtering down to children. And yet somehow we seem to be marching ahead with the legalization of marijuana without factoring in the societal effects it will have when kids start using it and the implication that it’s legal so it must be OK.”
Exactly!
In the debate over whether New York should legalize marijuana, a potent force is becoming more vocally opposed: schools.
At least one district has already issued a resolution in opposition and statewide school organizations are increasingly raising concerns over New York’s move toward recreational marijuana.
Educators’ criticisms focus largely on the potential impact on students already enticed by vaping, cigarettes and opioids.
“As a child welfare issue, we are gravely concerned that the legalization of recreational marijuana is going to be really harmful to our children,” said Kyle Belokopitsky, executive director of the state Parent Teacher Association.
The state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are negotiating whether to include the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state budget for the fiscal year that starts April 1.
If a deal can’t be reached, lawmakers would have until the end of the legislative session in mid-June to strike an agreement. Otherwise, it would likely languish until 2020.
So with the short window, some school groups are boosting their efforts to beat back the measure.
“As a society, we’ve been unable to stop the things we seem to think are legally allowable for adults from filtering down to children,” said David Little, executive director
of the state Rural Schools Association.
READ MORE: https://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2019/03/07/recreational-marijuana-what-schools-fear-most-legalization-new-york/2981695002/
