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Fredonia Police Chief Phillip Maslak strongly supports a marijuana withdrawal village.
“It’s my opinion that we step back and sit down and watch how all the legalization of marijuana – the sale, the retail stores, the on-site consumption – plays out,” Maslak told Fredonia’s board during a presentation at a workshop meeting on Monday.
“So what New York State is doing is they’ve set a firm date of December 31st for you to opt out or do nothing, which means by doing nothing you agree. and you are bound to it for life, “ he added.
Maslak suggested that village officials could review marijuana sales in a year, because “There is no rush to get into this.”
The chief continued, “We are in a unique situation here with the village because we are a smaller community but we have an influx of students… the campus, to the best of my belief, is a smoke-free campus, which means it smoking is prohibited. cigarettes and / or marijuana on campus. This, in turn, puts it all in our village, in the local apartments where the students reside. “
For this reason, Maslak said, it would be a good idea for the village to pass an open smoking law mirroring the open containers law for alcohol. “I think that would be a good solution, especially for our playgrounds and our local parks… I wish they weren’t smoking, which would include the marijuana stipulation. “ he said.
Mayor Doug Essek, a declared skeptic of the legalization of marijuana, said that unless the village pulls out of sales now, it is “Locked up forever with no alternative. “ Administrator EvaDawn Bashaw said it was important for village officials to realize that conversely, stepping down now does not mean the village will have to prevent marijuana sales forever.
Maslak said he and SUNY Police Chief Fredonia would attend a forum in September chaired by Susan Parker, who recently won the Democratic primary to represent Fredonia in the county legislature, on local laws and legalization of the marijuana. “We’ve all been invited to this and I think just for the record this can be a good forum for us to attend”, Bashaw said.
“We should make sure that the laws reflect the same as all other legal drugs when it comes to bars and cigarettes,” she continued. “You can’t drink on the streets in public… and you can’t smoke in public in many places, and I think we should look at prescriptions that require the same.
“Whether we like it or not, the legalization of marijuana is here and it will fall under the same category as tobacco and alcohol and I think we should treat it the same,” Bashaw concluded.
“The bottom line is that we should tackle this and discuss the resolution to withdraw” Maslak said. However, no action was taken on Monday.
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