Law enforcement reacts to legalization of marijuana
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Following the passage of State Issue 2 and the legalization of marijuana, the Times Leader reached out to officials in law enforcement for reactions and word of how this change of law might impact training and police work.
Belmont County Sheriff David Lucas said he was disappointed in the results, but thanked the people of Belmont County for voting "no."
"Belmont County voted 'no' on the marijuana Issue 2, but statewide it was passed. All I can say is myself as sheriff and the sheriffs in the state and other public entities...was against that," he said, adding he expects complications in law enforcement and in the workforce.
"I think it's going to create a lot more issues and problems locally because of what the law allows a person to do and to carry and to grow. I don't think it was best for us at the state level being passed," he said. "We're the first responders, so we're the ones who are going to be dealing with it."
He said the office's K-9s will not need to be retrained, since they have already been trained for issues of people carrying medicinal marijuana.
"On the safety issue, are we going to have an upswing in impaired drivers?" he said. "I'm looking at the safety of the community. ... How it's going to create problems for business owners. It's going to spill over and create a lot of issues."
Lucas said local entities such as cities and villages may pass local ordinances restricting marijuana use.
"We'll just have to see, when the law comes out, how it's written and how it'll be enforced," Lucas said. "Whatever the law is, myself and the rest of my office will follow the color of the law, but if there's an issue or a problem, we won't tolerate it either."
Barnesville Police Chief Rocky Sirianni said he expects minimal impact on procedures.
"Fortunately we made the decision not to train our K-9 on marijuana because a lot of this was in discussion back then. We were kind of trying to stay ahead of things with that, and the other thing was there hasn't been much prosecution on marijuana cases for some time. (The Bureau of Criminal Investigations) wasn't really testing for marijuana unless you had a pretty large trafficking, serious case, so as far as the K-9 goes it's not going to affect us."
Sirianni said he expects some regulation on public use.
"Just like you can't in most areas be drunk in public or walking down the street drinking a beer or whatever, my understanding is you're not going to be able to walk down the street in public smoking a joint. There's going to be regulations as far as where and how," he said.
"Just like for alcohol, you're going to have to watch for driving as well. Just because you can legally possess or use marijuana now, there's still laws for driving after the use of marijuana. You still have to watch for OVIs or anything else related to using marijuana. Just because it's legal doesn't mean you can use it and drive," Sirianni said.
"We'll just have to see what the future holds as far as whatever kind of societal effects it'll have," he said. "It'll all be new. It'll be a learning experience to see what kind of changes or what kind of effects it'll have on law enforcement, but we'll just roll with the punches and see how everything goes and work with it."
Bellaire Police Chief J.J. Watson also said the election was too soon to make a statement.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol posts are referring all questions to the Columbus office. According to an emailed statement from spokesman Lieutenant Nathan E. Dennis, the patrol is examining the initiated statute and will provide further information once there has been adequate time to review.