Albany County DA public meetings about marijuana legalization
The political tide appears to shifting toward legalizing recreational use of marijuana, and that's especially true in this part of the country. Massachusetts will start legal sales of recreational marijuana this July. Starting that same month in Vermont, it will be legal to have and grow small amounts of marijuana. And legalizing recreational marijuana had majority support among respondents to a Siena New York State poll earlier this year.
That's a little bit of context for an upcoming series of public meetings the Albany County District Attorney's office is holding about marijuana legalization. Press release blurbage (link added):
These meetings will give residents of Albany County an opportunity to ask questions and discuss public safety concerns about marijuana legalization and the future of marijuana laws and prosecution. In addition to the public meetings, Albany County residents are also invited to take an online survey to share opinions on the topic. ...
Residents of Albany County that are unable to attend the scheduled meetings can still share opinions about marijuana laws by filling out our brief online survey.
The five meetings are at location around the county -- the schedule is below. The first meeting is this Wednesday, June 6, at the Albany Public Library branch on Henry Johnson Boulevard at 6 pm.
Schedule
Each meeting is at 6 pm.
June 6: Albany Public Library Arbor Hill/West Hill Branch
148 Henry Johnson Blvd, Albany, NY 12210
June 11: Berne Public Library
1763 Helderberg Trail, Berne, NY 12023
June 13: Guilderland Public Library
2228 Western Avenue, Guilderland, NY 12084
June 18: Cohoes Public Library
169 Mohawk St # 2, Cohoes, NY 12047
June 20: Bethlehem Public Library
451 Delaware Avenue, Delmar, NY 12054
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See also: This Chris Churchill column from this past weekend thinking about what could or should come after legalization.
photo: Ryan Bushby via Wikipedia (CC BY 2.5)
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Comments
democrats should be ashamed selling drugs for revenue If Massachusetts all jumped off a bridge should we follow
... said Daren Roth on Jun 4, 2018 at 1:20 PM | link
about time the plant is legalized. policies founded on fear are not good for the public.
... said Dan on Jun 4, 2018 at 1:36 PM | link
@daren Roth, what’s the valuing of making this political? We should try to find the best path forward.
... said S on Jun 4, 2018 at 2:47 PM | link
Albany could really use the funds with the city landfill expiring and all. This is great.
... said Patrick on Jun 4, 2018 at 8:52 PM | link
@ Daren Roth, Really? You should be ashamed having anything to say about what anyone else does that does not involve you, period, full stop. You mention revenue? You should be ashamed spending tax dollars on prohibition. If you were any kind of conservative you'd believe in a free country. By free country I mean adults free to do what they want, not free to do what Daren wants them to do. Another big government Republican, are you?
... said Bill on Jun 5, 2018 at 1:07 AM | link
Marijuana is a gateway drug to heavier drugs - we already have a problem with drug dependency- why add to it?
... said Joe on Sep 6, 2018 at 6:21 PM | link
@Bill I understand where you're coming from in addressing @Daren Roth but it's not as clear cut as you would like it to be. The government is moving from spending money on the prohibition on marijuana to the tax funded government oversight of a drug that many people have many different objections to, some based on personal anecdotes and some founded more on fact. As someone who considers himself more a Republican than a Democrat, I can say that, since this is a state level decision, @Daren Roth's original point is not out of line with Republican values when it comes to overreaching federal government. And I'd recommend against using the "I mean adults free to do what they want" argument, as that's a ridiculously slippery slope. I would focus more on real world policy implications, such as easing the costly war on drugs, reducing the prison population, and potentially easing the taxpayer load of all that when talking about legalization, not "nah nah I can do what I want I'm not listening to you blah".
... said Ra on Sep 7, 2018 at 10:50 AM | link