Hardyston council discusses pot legalization

HARDYSTON — Hardyston Mayor Carl Miller invited Nicholas Loizza, director of the Sussex County Division of Community and Youth Services, Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, to speak about potential impacts of legalization of marijuana on Wednesday, Oct. 10.
Miller expressed interest in the research reports coming out Colorado and wanted to get the facts “ahead of possible legalization legislation coming out of Trenton.”
Loizza is a retired policer officer and one of the founding members of 'Drug Abuse Resistance Education' (DARE). Loizza provided many details from various research performed in Colorado. He said that since Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use, marijuana related traffic deaths have risen by “151 percent despite having 65 percent of the Colorado communities ban recreational marijuana use.” Furthermore, stated there has been a “1042 percent increase in postal service captures of marijuana being shipped illegally across states.”
Loizza also brought members of The Center for Prevention & Counseling. Annmarie Shafer and Tina Aue both reiterated points that Loizza had made. Particularly concerning for Loizza, Shafer and Aue is the impact on the area’s youth. They cited research showing that since Colorado’s legalization, the 12-year-old plus group that has used marijuana in Colorado is 85 percent higher than the national average. Aue said that THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, is higher today than it was in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Aue said, “marijuana is genetically modified, and the potency of THC in Colorado’s marijuana in 2017 averaged 19.6 percent compared to 16.4 percent in 2014.”
The percentage of THC in marijuana in the 1980s was between 4-5 percent.
Shafer and Aue were surprised not more members of the community could attend the council meeting so they are encouraging the public to get involved. The next Center for Prevention & Counseling event is the annual attend the “Taking Flight to Change” summit being held at the Sparta High School on Friday, Oct. 19.
Loizza urged council to “Please consider the impact not the revenue. There will be a need to have more resources in law enforcement, fire departments, and hospitals if recreational marijuana is legalized.”
Mayor Miller thanked Loizza, Schafer and Aue and urged council to review the research provided. Deputy Mayor Santo Verrilli made a point to say that the council “has not really had a chance to discuss”, but that he personally is “strictly against” recreational marijuana legalization.