Marijuana legalization advocates are looking for the traditionally liberal-minded New England to legalize marijuana, The New York Times reported. However, the region’s recent opioid crisis is stalling legislation.

The opiate crisis killed more than 2,000 people in New England last year, according to the Times.

A Vermont bill that originally regulated marijuana usage was passed by the state’s senate in February, but it has since stalled in the House, where it has been stripped down to only allow possession and personal growth of a small amount of marijuana.

“At a time when we are trying and working so desperately hard to get help to those who need it … this effort at legalization seems to be directly at odds with those efforts,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey told the Times.

A ballot initiative that would allow adults to use edibles and possess 10 ounces of marijuana is set to appear in November.

Proponents of marijuana legalization are trying to use the heroin epidemic in their favor, saying it would cut down on interactions with drug dealers. And in an ironic twist, health officials in Maine are considering whether opiate addiction qualifies an individual for using medical marijuana.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker told the Times that legalizing marijuana usage would “threaten to reverse progress combating the growing opioid epidemic so this industry can rake in millions in profits.”

If one thing is certain, it’s that marijuana use is definitely not going to be legalized in Massachusetts under Baker’s administration. Many public officials are coming out against marijuana legalization, and they’re using the opioid crisis as fuel in the fight against marijuana. Of course a politician isn’t going to publicly say that people will use marijuana whether or not it’s legal. They have agendas to push.

Even though little correlation has been found between marijuana use and heroin use, the government is desperate. At this point, it will try anything to cut down the numbers of opioid users and victims. Supporting legislation to legalize any sort of drug would give the region a bad image.

But it’s not like marijuana’s status as a decriminalized drug in Massachusetts is causing fewer people to use it. Take a sniff around any college campus, and it’s clear that use of the green goddess is thriving. Heroin is illegal, but that unfortunately hasn’t done much to prevent people from using it.

Fully legalizing marijuana could potentially help in the battle against opioid addiction. By regulating the marijuana industry, shops that specialize in selling marijuana would provide a safe alternative to the sketchy acquaintance-of-a-friend dealers that people buy their marijuana from now.

It’s very likely that if a drug dealer is selling marijuana, they’re also selling significantly harder drugs, such as cocaine or heroin. Establishing marijuana shops would keep users away from the chance to buy harder drugs, and regulation would ensure that the marijuana purchased isn’t laced with harmful chemicals. Very few people would probably go out of their way to purchase marijuana illegally if they could easily buy it in a shop. People aren’t rushing in droves to buy moonshine, because buying alcohol legally is a lot safer and a lot more convenient.

And it’s just as easy for a college student under the age of 21 to acquire marijuana as it is for them to acquire alcohol. The way college students smoke it makes it look like marijuana is already legal. The least the government can do is make it safer to light up.

Now may not seem to be the right time for the government to support marijuana legalization. But while supporting marijuana may be in poor taste, there’s no telling when the opioid epidemic will ever improve. People are dying of opioid addiction, not of marijuana overdoses. Though the two are both considered drugs, they’re leagues apart. Using one may not relate to the other. But until the Northeast realizes that, then decriminalization in Massachusetts will have to do.