Suffolk officials sound the alarm on cannabis use on 4/20
Officials say although cannabis is legal, they're seeing more people get behind the wheel while impaired or intoxicated.
Suffolk officials sounded the alarm about cannabis use today, as today is what's known as "4/20."
"It's not the same cannabis as it used to be in early 2000s. Back then, THC levels, on average, were 3% to 4%. Now, we're seeing on average about 20%," says Dr. Edmond Hakimi, medical director of Wellbridge Addiction Treatment and Research.
Officials say although cannabis is legal, they're seeing more people get behind the wheel while impaired or intoxicated.
Suffolk police arrested over 1,500 people in 2025 for driving while intoxicated or impaired by drugs, marking a 16% increase from 2024.
So far this year, they've arrested 550 people.
Alisa McMorris lost her son Andrew to an impaired driver when he was 12 years old. She joined Suffolk officials on Monday to share his story. She know is the Co-President of the Andrew McMorris Foundation in honor of him.
"Two weeks ago, my son would've had his 20th birthday. He would've been a sophomore in college and all of that was taken away," says McMorris. "An impaired driver drove off the road the plowed through the entire line of scouts, popping them off one at a time."
McMorris wants no other parent to have to go through what she did, which is why she now advocates against impaired driving.
"If you're going to use cannabis, THC, I need you to be responsible and not get behind the wheel," she says.
Doctors also seeing more diagnoses of cannabis use disorder and cannabis induced psychosis and it affects people of all ages.
"When a teenager or young adult uses cannabis, it's not just what they're feeling in that moment, that effect can be lifechanging, yet the perception of harm keeps going down," says Hakimi.
