As the United States faces a devastating opioid epidemic, New York State officials have offered up one potential alternative: marijuana. In a report released Friday by the New York State Department of Health after consultations with a range of state agencies, officials laid out a case to legalize recreational marijuana sales to help curb addiction to opioids, boost tax revenue, and end racial disparities in drug enforcement. “The positive effects of a regulated marijuana market in NYS outweigh the potential negative impacts.” “Studies have found notable associations of reductions in opioid prescribing and opioid deaths with the availability of marijuana,” the report’s authors found.