FILE — Marijuana plants for the adult recreational market are loaded on a tractor for planting at Hepworth Farms in Milton, N.Y., July 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

WARREN, Pa. — In the two years since New York state made recreational marijuana legal, Warren-Onoville Road has been transformed.

While it might seem like a road going nowhere, Google Maps will often send county residents that way if they’re looking to travel east on Interstate 86.

What once included boat launches and gas stations now includes something else — 11 marijuana dispensaries.

Yes, marijuana is legal in New York.

Yes, recreational marijuana is not legal in Pennsylvania or under federal law.

But bringing that kind of legal access to marijuana to a back door of Warren County is not without its pitfalls for county residents.

“It’s right there,” Warren County Sheriff Brian Zeybel said. “We are going to have people that are going to take advantage of that.”

There is nothing illegal about a Pennsylvania resident traveling to New York, smoking marijuana and then returning with the drug or any paraphernalia, sans any DUI-related issues.

It would be illegal, however, to go to New York, purchase marijuana and return to Pennsylvania with it in hand.

Zeybel shared one incident where a woman went to what he’s called the “Green Mile” to get cheaper gas and was given a free marijuana cigarette. What started as one joint turned into additional purchases when she got gas.

The situation escalated to where the woman was smoking marijuana at home in Pennsylvania. She kept it in a locked box in her bedroom but, when it was unlocked, her son took the marijuana and paraphernalia and took it to school. Ultimately, he showed it to some other students, one of whom turned the student in.

“We hear complaints from parents about drugs in school quite often,” Zeybel said. “Is the parent responsible for this event? Is it the people at the gas-station? Do you think this child has a greater potential to use marijuana than a child whose parents do not? Does this child view other drugs as less harmful than they are? What if mom smokes that joint at the gas station before driving home?”

Or if you’re driving sober but bringing some marijuana back from New York and hit a deer and the police are involved “you’re going to get arrested for it.”

While the impact and consequences in those situations are clear, some other impacts — even in cases of legal use in New York state — are much less obvious.

“Any safety related job that you could have here, a crane operator with a government contract, a machinist,” he said, could be subject to random drug testing, including those holding CDLs. “You’re going to have to explain that to your employer. You don’t want to go there.”

Pistol permits applications and the federal form to purchase a firearm are also in play here.

Zeybel said that the permit applications asked if someone is a “habitual drunkard” or an “unlawful user” of marijuana, stimulants, depressants or narcotics.

The federal form also asks applicants if they are an “unlawful user” of marijuana or controlled substances.

While the substance might be legal in New York, it’s still illegal under federal law. Zeybel pointed out that the federal background form has a bolded warning to that end.

Zeybel said that law enforcement officers in Pennsylvania can’t drink within eight hours of their shift. Regulatory changes are underway in New York to address those issues.

“Here’s my hangup,” he said. “I took an oath to protect and uphold the constitution. If I’m smoking weed in New York, I’m still breaking a federal law.”

There are also potential safety concerns at play.

A POLITICO article on the issue said the dispensaries on the reservation are not licensed or regulated by the state. That ties back to the sovereignty that the tribes have on their reservations. Critics quoted by POLITICO said that these unregulated sales “posed several public health concerns, including underage use, security and safety risks, including the sales of untested products.”

On top of that, the ability to secure the substance out in the open, rather than from a shady dealer, is problematic in Zeybel’s view.

“It makes it seem legal. The feel of legality is the problem.”