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County looks at legalization of marijuana

Isabel Braverman - Staff Writer
Posted 2/19/19

MONTICELLO - As the legalization of marijuana may become a reality in New York State, Sullivan County legislators are calling for research before it's full speed ahead.

At the legislature's …

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County looks at legalization of marijuana

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MONTICELLO - As the legalization of marijuana may become a reality in New York State, Sullivan County legislators are calling for research before it's full speed ahead.

At the legislature's Health and Family Services Committee meeting on Thursday, Legislator Nadia Rajsz called on her fellow legislators to form a task force to look into the impacts of legal recreational marijuana.

“The recreational aspect of marijuana really needs to be discussed further,” Rajsz said. “And that's why I would like to create a… [task force], where we can further this discussion with the legislature to see the impact of marijuana and how it will impact our county.”

Sheriff Mike Schiff said the county should look at this issue thoroughly. He said the New York State Sheriff's Association and Police Chiefs Association came out against it, based solely on the public safety aspect.

Schiff noted that in places where legalization has been instated road accidents, deaths and injuries are up. Some studies have been done on whether or not this is true.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, legalizing recreational marijuana is linked to increased crashes. In a study they conducted in 2017 in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, collision claim frequencies rose about three percent.

However, a study by the American Public Health Association in 2017 found that vehicle crash fatality rates stayed the same in states that legalized recreational marijuana. The study concluded that three years after legalization, changes in motor vehicle crash fatality rates in Washington and Colorado were not statistically different from those in similar states without recreational marijuana legalization.

But Schiff said here in Sullivan County legalizing recreational marijuana “is going to create problems for everyone.” He said identifying if someone is under the influence of marijuana while driving is difficult. Officers will need to receive training, and it's an expensive instruction that requires them to be sent out of state.

He also brought up the questions of how will they identify if it's legal or not legal, how do you tax it, and what will be the impact on the opioid crisis?

“We need to study it, we need to look at every aspect of it,” Schiff said.

Airbnb brings revenue to county

County Treasurer Nancy Buck had some good news for the legislators during the Management and Budget Committee meeting.

In addition to a 6.7 percent increase in sales tax, the county saw revenue from Airbnb. Buck said Airbnb hosts made $3.3 million in income in 2018. In Sullivan County, there are 400 hosts and there were 23,300 guests.

“I thank the legislators for believing in me when I came to you and said let's do Airbnb; and we were one of the first counties that signed up with them,” Buck said.

The Catskill Mountains and the Hudson Valley were recently named as one of the Top 19 destinations to visit in the world by Airbnb.

Care Center in need of nurses

The Care Center at Sunset Lake has been ranked a five-star high performing facility, announced Administrator Frank Murphy. He said it is one of only about 40 in the state.

The Center has 146 beds and is currently at 119 residents. Murphy said with the staffing right now they could probably only accommodate 131 residents. He said they are in need of five more Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA's).

“The CNA's at the facility are burnt out,” Murphy said. “We keep using them over and over. These are things we need to address.”

Commissioner of Health and Family Services Joseph Todora said they are working on programming to get more nursing staff.

“We've been working with local schools to see if we can get a curriculum going to get people ready to be an LPN (licensed practical nurse) and ready to take the tests. There are local efforts going on,” Todora said.

He added that many places are struggling to find healthcare staff, which he said is a “byproduct” of the Affordable Care Act. That policy was supposed to require credentialed staff, but it never came about, and now facilities do not have enough people.

“There is a real dearth of professional people available for nursing homes, public health and mental health services; and it's not just Sullivan County, it's across the state and the country,” Todora said.

Murphy said that Todora is working with BOCES to create an LPN training program, and that the Care Center is now a training facility.

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