Law Enforcement on Legalization

Law Enforcement’s Perspective: Former Amherst Police Officer Weighs in on Legalization scenarios like this. It becomes a matter of how do we legalize lot of stakeholders in all of this.

We recently sat down with a former police officer to get his opinion on cannabis legalization. While he wished to stay anonymous, here is an inside look at what was said.

Q: Tell me a bit about your background in law enforcement?

A: I worked for a local police department for over 30 years as a patrol officer and detective.

Q: Do you think marijuana should be legalized for recreational use?

A: I’m generally in favor of legalization because I think it’s safer to have people using regulated products, but I have a lot of concerns based on my experience and the research I’ve done on what’s happening in other states.

Q: What have some of your encounters with cannabis in law enforcement been like?

A: We never made a big deal out of it. If we apprehended someone for a serious crime, we’d tag it on, but most guys didn’t make a big deal about it and would let a small amount go. Usually just tossing it out, unless the person was being impolite or disrespectful towards us, then we’d be a little bit more willing to do the paperwork and charge them for possession.

Q: What are some of your concerns about legalization?

A: I have some concerns about public safety. I want to see more research that studies the impact of cannabis use on a population level because we don’t know what the negative consequences will be. We’re going to fully open up the market to everyone above the age of 21 and we don’t fully understand what will happen if we do that. We hear a lot about jobs and the economy, but it all can’t be good. There has to be drawbacks.

Impaired driving is one of my big concerns there’s been studies done in other states that look at impaired driving before and after M-F 10am - 7pm • Sat 11am - 7pm

legalization, and impaired driving increases after legalization. Addiction is another big concern. We’ve thought for a long time that marijuana was a gateway drug, well if it turns out it is a gateway drug and we tell everyone that its ok to use then we might be increasing the chance that someone becomes addicted. Motivation is another concern, marijuana can negatively impact motivation, so how will that impact our society? At the end of the day, I know legalization is coming, and I’m not opposed to it. I’d just like to see New York do a better job at legalizing than other states have done. I’d like them to do it more intelligently.

You make some great points and some really interesting ones as well. One thing that I think often gets overlooked is that even if you believe that THC doesn’t impair your driving ability, THC seriously potentiates the effects of alcohol, which we already know impairs driving ability. So, it’s definitely not a good idea to get behind the wheel if you’re consuming both alcohol and marijuana, in any amount. This can surprise people, especially if they’re new to cannabis. A person may only have a couple drinks, but they have THC in their system and they’re more impaired than they expect to

A: Absolutely, and it creates a problem for law enforcement because right now there is no reliable test for acute intoxication from THC. This is just one example. I think there’s plenty more intelligently, so we enable people to have their freedom, encourage responsible use and warn people about potential risks, but also enable law enforcement to do their job. It’s no easy task. There’s a

I completely agree. Thanks for taking the time to do this and we’d love to hear from you again in the future!

A: Thank you, I’d be happy to!

About this column: In this column we highlight important and challenging issues regarding cannabis. While we remain bullish on the industry, we hope to bring adequate attention to and spark discussion about these important issues.

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be after the amount they drank.

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