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News 12 Staff

LIPNP0426BBLOCK_2026-04-26-13-09-14

Welcome back. Officials in Suffolk are sounding the alarm about cannabis use. With it being legal now, they say more people are driving while impaired. Police arrested over 1500 people last year for driving while intoxicated or impaired by drugs. That is 16% more than in the previous year. Police say they've arrested 550 people so far this year, and doctors say they're noticing a change in the marijuana itself. It's not the same cannabis as it used to be in early 2000s. Back then, THC levels on average were 3, 4%. Now we're seeing on average about 20%. And doctors say they're also seeing more diagnoses of cannabis use disorder and cannabis induced psychosis. They say it's people of all ages who are affected. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is moving to reclassify medical marijuana. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order that would make it a less strictly regulated Schedule 3 drug, the same as Tylenol with codeine and ketamine. Right now it's a Schedule 1 drug like heroin. And ecstasy drugs on that level are considered to have no medical use. Reclassifying medical marijuana opens the door to more research on its medicinal properties. The Drug Enforcement Agency has to hold administrative hearings before a judge prior to that change taking effect. And Suffolk residents will have to wait a little longer to find out if kratom will be banned in the county. Lawmakers rescheduled their vote because the public comment portion of their meeting last week went on for so long they ran out of time. They're considering a blanket ban on kratom products advertised as an all-natural herb that can act like an opioid in excess. There's a lot of dangerous chemical products that say they're kratom, and there's a lot of dangerous 708 products that actually are an opiate that kill people and they shouldn't be in the marketplace. But there's also millions of Americans, veterans and seniors that consume the natural leaf, the safe product that has proven to be safe, and they don't abuse it, they don't get addicted to it. It's just their go to product to give them a quality of life. NASA passed a nearly identical ban this year. The state passed restrictions on kratom last year too, requiring the product packaging to have warning labels. Joining us now is the vice president of organizational development at Wellbridge Addiction Treatment and Research, familiar face here on News 12, Steve Chasman. Good to see you, Steve. Thanks for joining us. Thank you, Rich, for having me on. All right, so let's talk about, uh, the findings that were unveiled this week to start off about cannabis in Suffolk County. Uh, you were there, uh, as part of that announcement. Some of this is. It's, it's pretty troubling in terms of you're talking about drugs, driving, and the impact here on Long Island. Absolutely. And as a behavioral health professional for 23 years, I thought I'd be a lot older and greyer 5 years ago to see the legalization and commercialization of marijuana. This is not Mother Nature's marijuana. It has been genetically and hydroponically enhanced, so the THC levels are significantly higher. Than Mother Nature ever intended it. We're also seeing a billion dollar industry around this. So, uh, clinically, there's a book in my field called the DSM, and there's cannabis Use Disorder is in fact a progressive psychiatric illness like substance use disorder, but this is specific to cannabis. We're also at Welbridge because we're a treatment center helping Long Islanders, uh, an increase in cannabis. Misuse disorder and cannabis-induced psychosis. That means medically by our physicians who are addiction certified need to be stabilized, um, for psychotic breaks that are being induced by high levels of THC either through flour and bud or through the edibles. So we're particularly concerned and we had an opportunity to sit with our district attorney, our county executive in Suffolk County, our sheriff, and. And they are particularly concerned, as I'm sure we all are, if you've driven our highways or byways, you know what legalization and, uh, commercialization smells like. If you've walked in New York City, you know what it smells like. The problem is, Rich, is that we're very much a driving island. So drug driving is a real issue. uh, the increased incidence of cannabis use disorder, we're treating it, but, uh, it needed to be addressed publicly. So you did that this week and then later in the week, the Trump administration made its announcement about medical marijuana, the reclassification. Uh, what's the impact there as you see it? People have been calling for this, many people for a long time. Well, I think, uh, like all dimensions of federal laws, there's probably some pros and cons. From a behavioral health standpoint, it looks like we are losing the battle of understanding what cannabis is and what it isn't. Uh, much like, and I know we'll get to kratom, there's a lot of mismarketing about cannabis being innocuous, meaning harmless, and that's just not the case. Uh, on the shallow end, we see a motivational syndrome that marijuana consumption could Defeat your development, pursuit, and achievement of your goals. On the muddy end of the spectrum, it can be a stopover to other drugs or, like we said, it can induce psychosis. So the federal government, there's also tax breaks for proprietors who are going to be selling it. So again, I think America is in a reckoning. Uh, Whether we're talking about kratom or legalized and commercialized marijuana, even expanded gambling, we are pitting monetary gain against public health. Let's talk about kratom. Big topic specifically in Suffolk County this week. Um, you heard that gentleman at the top defending kratom, but I guess, give us the, the overview here. We hear some people saying, hey, it's just the synthetic version that's the problem. Others saying, uh, there should be a blanket ban. From your position, how do you see it? Well, the drug he's talking about is 7. which is naturally byproduct ink creatom. Uh, first off, this is not FDA approved. The Food and Drug Administration has found that there are no medicinal purposes for this, which is why it has no FDA approval. Uh, second to that is we are seeing also at Welbridge addiction treatment, people are coming in with physical and psychological dependence to these drugs, and in fact our addiction certified physicians are using medication assisted therapies for opiate use disorder buprenorphine, Subutex, Suboxone. To actually detox people from the physical dependence of kratom. So again, I think we're dealing with a misinformation or a mismarketing as to what this drug is. If we look at the organic history of the opioid crisis, it started with heroin, prescription medication, fentanyl, and synthetics. This is yet another dimension of an opioid-like drug that is being consumed by the public, and unfortunately it's very much like switching seats on the Titanic. The good news is there is treatment for it, but I think A lot of users of kratom are surprised that they're developing a physical and psychological dependence to it, and that's because of the misinformation. Steve, we fit a lot of information into a short amount of time. We could, uh, talk about this. It is so important for so much longer, but we are out of time right now. I appreciate it though. Thank you for coming in. Thank you, Rich. And still to come here on Power and Politics, a post-COVID, post-inflation, economic hangover. That's what a new study says we're going through right now, why it's hitting especially hard here in New York.

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LIPNP0426CBLOCK_2026-04-26-13-08-44

Welcome back. Are we dealing with a post-COVID, post-inflation economic hangover? That's the conclusion of a new report that's trying to make dollars and cents of the affordability crisis. Honestly, I feel everything is much more now. We're not sure why. Laurie Reyes of Levittown says she's feeling the pinch of the affordability crisis, and she's not alone. It is much, much higher, but you live with it. That's all. A new study is digging into the issue. The nonpartisan Common Sense Institute calls it a post-pandemic inflation hangover, and in New York we're really feeling the effects. Our state ranks 48th in affordability now. It was 36th pre-COVID in 2019. Analysts say here at home, the cost of housing and childcare are two of the biggest necessities, taking a larger portion of our paycheck than they did pre-COVID. The state of New York actually ranks dead last in terms of its uh childcare affordability, and that was a big change because if you go back, To 2019, the state ranked 44th and was only about 18% of income. The report finds that while inflation has slowed, the higher cost of living baseline that it created remains. Zachary Milne is the author of the report. We're sort of paying the price for that inflation from a few years ago right now. I do think it's going to continue to be an issue in the next 11, maybe 2 years. Meanwhile, it's prompting Long Islanders like Laurie to make some tough sacrifices. Just giving up some extra stuff now, no vacations, anything like that right now. We just, you just can't because you have to help your family out. And you can view the full report right now on our website and the News 12 app. A plan to recruit new volunteer firefighters by providing them with compensation is being considered right now in Albany's ongoing budget negotiations. A group of fire districts and chiefs are advocating for that proposed bill. It would create an optional program that would allow individual districts to decide if they would like to pay volunteers for being on standby. Similar programs are already on the books in neighboring states like New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. I think it would help us get the truck out faster. Now, I have 3 young men who have been on Terryville Fire Department for the last 5 years. They just bought houses. Their mortgage is $5000 a month. How much time can they give when they're working two jobs, taking care of the kids, their wives are working. Advocates tell us they're hopeful that the bill will pass in the current legislative session we'll be watching. That's all the time we have this week. We'll see you again right here next week for another edition of News Twelve's Power and Politics. I'm Rich Barrabe. Have a great rest of your day.

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This week's guest is Oyster Bay Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz.


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