Cattaraugus County Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb thinks it’s a mistake to look into legalizing recreational marijuana as Gov. Andrew Cuomo recommended on Jan. 16.
The New York State Sheriffs Association discussed the issue last week, Whitcomb said in an interview Friday.
The lawmen decided “to take a united stand as sheriffs and document our concerns about the possible legalization of marijuana,” said Whitcomb, who is the immediate past president of the Sheriffs Association.
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The association is already looking at states that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, Whitcomb said. Rather than a letter of opposition, he said the group will be “documenting the negatives.”
Whitcomb said, “What we suspect is that accidents have increased where (more) people are driving under the influence. We want to know whether there has been an impact on the level of crime and how it has affected policing.”
