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CNY town outlaws marijuana smoking at its parks

The sun shines down on the playground outside Salina Town Hall, April 11, 2022.
Maxwell Mimaroglu
/
WAER
The sun shines down on the playground outside Salina Town Hall, April 11, 2022.

A local town wants to keep its outdoor facilities free from the marijuana smoke that’s now legal to inhale. A new law in the Town of Salina prohibits any kind of smoking – tobacco and cannabis — on town property, including its parks.

Salina Town Supervisor Nick Paro said he took up the issue after the phone kept ringing with concerns from residents.

"A lot of parents were calling," Paro said.

But he was also urged by an anti-smoking organization to take action.

"Between that and the public input, that's what prompted us to take this up," Paro said.

The town already had a similar law on the books that bans tobacco smoking, but the new ordinance explicitly bans marijuana use as well.

"It was in reaction to the passage of marijuana in New York state. So we want to make sure that people aren't able to just smoke freely in our parks," he said.

The measure passed unanimously last month, however one member of the five-person Town of Salina board was absent. Now Paro said parents are reaching out to thank him.

"A lot of mothers are very happy. That's who I primarily hear from are mothers, and a lot of them have reached out, and they were very happy that the town was taking this action," he said.

New York approved adult marijuana use last year, but the state still has yet to set up a legal market to sell substance. However officials have taken steps to get grow operations underway.