Cuomo’s early proposals are intriguing

As in past years, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s favorite series, “The State of the State,” is unfolding one episode at a time.

This year’s theme is “Making Progress Happen.” Two of Cuomo’s proposals were released Tuesday, the first of which would tighten penal law against sex offenders by deeming voluntary intoxication a form of incapability to consent. Under current law, a person is considered incapable of consent if he or she is mentally incapacitated from forced, not voluntary, ingestion of drugs or alcohol. Cuomo plans to propose legislation that would close what he calls a “legal loophole.”

Cuomo also revealed Tuesday that he will pursue legislation to ban single-use Styrofoam containers, a proposal that seems to have bipartisan support.

“With the top Republican Assembly voting record on the environment, I agree we need to make progress in removing more Styrofoam from circulation,” Assemblyman Mark Walczyk, R-116, said. “I look forward to reviewing the governor’s plans and getting input from the businesses and people impacted.”

Monday brought another two proposals from Cuomo, the first of which would create legislation to ban fentanyl analogs, a highly potent synthetic opioid. Under this act, the possession and sale of fentanyl analogs would be subject to the same penalties as other controlled substances.

Drug dealers have turned to lacing opioids and other illegal drugs with fentanyl analogs — a deadly synthetic opioid that, for unknown reasons, current law does not ban. This is a solid two-pronged proposal that will tackle the problem by banning dangerous fentanyl copycats and providing treatment to people suffering from opioid addiction.

Incredibly, fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, is not illegal to use or sell in New York because, unlike at the federal level, it is not named on the state’s controlled substances list. Cuomo’s proposal would not only make fentanyl illegal, but would also authorize the state Health Department to add more analogs to the list of controlled substances as they are discovered.

Surely the Legislature will stand united against the proliferation of fentanyl by voting to make it illegal. That is a no-brainer. The Legislature has the power to stop another form of date rape by declaring voluntary intoxication means inability to consent. If they don’t act on these, they will stop progress from happening. Stay tuned.