The school year is winding down, which means prom season and graduation parties are near.
Rensselaer County wants to make sure everyone gets home safe on their special night.
“We’re hoping to prevent a tragedy,” County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly said.
Law enforcement officials and school leaders are reminding teens that if you feel different, you drive different.
“One of the scariest phone calls you can receive as a parent, as you know, or even as a superintendent, is to find out that one of our kids, and our kids are all our kids, have been in an accident," East Greenbush Central School District Superintendent Jeff Simons said.
It’s an annual reminder, but there is an emphasis this year on marijuana.
Recreational use of the drug in New York for persons 21 and above was approved last year.
“I think our roads in Rensselaer County are less safe than they were a year ago,” Donnelly said.
Sheriff Pat Russo pleaded with young drivers and their families to better understand the dangers associated with marijuana use behind the wheel.
“And also the fact that some of the marijuana is laced with fentanyl," Russo said. "So you can have somebody smoke a marijuana cigarette that’s got too much fentanyl in it, forget about getting in a car. They can drop dead from the fentanyl.”
According to state police data, despite a recent decline in youth drinking, evidence suggests underage impaired driving is increasing.
Russo and Donnelly said there are 49 active cases involving impaired driving in the county right now.
“There is just no reason for it anymore,” said Cynthia Szozda, a victim specialist with Mothers Against Drunk Driving who works directly with families impacted by impaired driving.
“It is life-altering," she said. "These parents are losing kids. These kids are losing parents.”
She said that’s all young drivers need to know as the summer season nears.
“Just a little bit of alcohol, just a little bit of marijuana, it doesn’t matter what the little bit is. It is so easy to hit a tree, hit a guardrail,” Szozda said.