NY Republicans move to ban public pot smoking over its ‘pungent odor’

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A pair of GOP state lawmakers are pushing to ban public pot puffing in a longshot effort to clear the air of “pungent” clouds of funky smoke.

State Sen. George Borrello, from upstate Jamestown, joined Brooklyn Assemblyman Michael Novakhov this week to sponsor a bill that would prohibit the public use of cannabis unless a city or town specifically permits it.

Novakhov, a freshman Republican who won an upset victory in 2022 in a district centered on Gravesend, introduced the measure back in May and modeled it on existing laws banning the open consumption of alcohol.

Borrello signed on after receiving a stream of complaints from constituents who “are now regularly assailed with the pungent odor of marijuana on public sidewalks, in parking lots and other public spaces,” he said Thursday.

“Nearly all of the states that have legalized recreational marijuana have limited its usage to private property,” he added.

“However, in recent years, when given a choice between ‘responsible’ or ‘reckless,’ New York leaders have typically chosen the latter.”


Sen. George Borrello
State Sen. George Borrello, from upstate Jamestown, joined Brooklyn Assemblyman Michael Novakhov this week to sponsor a bill that would prohibit the public use of cannabis unless a city or town specifically permits it.
Hans Pennink for NY Post

Under current state law, New York pot smokers can blaze it wherever tobacco smoking is allowed — making the overwhelming scent of ganja nearly ubiquitous since Albany legalized recreational weed in 2021.

The bill’s passage into law is likely a pipe dream in the Dem-dominated state legislature.

But even Mayor Adams has complained about the inescapable odor


Man smoking marijuana
Borrello signed on after receiving a stream of complaints from constituents who “are now regularly assailed with the pungent odor of marijuana on public sidewalks, in parking lots and other public spaces,”
James Keivom

“The No. 1 thing I smell right now is pot,” Adams told reporters last summer.

“It’s like everybody’s smoking a joint.”

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