Aldous Huxley called it in "Brave New World".
Posted on 02/18/2015 6:20:08 PM PST by Coleus
Marijuana should be legalized in New Jersey because existing laws waste police resources, unfairly target minorities and leave millions of dollars in potential tax revenue unrealized by relegating it to the black market, a coalition said Wednesday in announcing a public education initiative.
New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform wants to legalize marijuana for people over 21, tax it and regulate its distribution. Among the groups represented at Wednesday's news conference were the American Civil Liberties Union New Jersey, the NAACP State Conference of New Jersey and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
NJUMR is focusing its efforts on educating the public about the issue first, before seeking a solution through the ballot box or the Legislature, said William Caruso, former executive director of the state Assembly. Gov. Chris Christie has been an advocate of changing drug laws to allow for more opportunities for treatment instead of incarceration, but he has consistently opposed marijuana legalization and has said he would veto any such bill that arrived on his desk.
"People change their minds," Caruso said. "I'm not saying that's where the governor is or will be, but we can't just stop because somebody has said, 'This is where I am.' It's our job to create a responsible debate. Our goal right now is not the statehouse. Our first job is articulate a message to the voting public, the taxpayers of this state, about what we're trying to accomplish and why."
Police in New Jersey make more than 21,000 arrests for marijuana possession annually, the group said. Those offenses cost about $127 million to prosecute, according to Richard Smith, president of the NAACP New Jersey State Conference.
Marijuana prosecutions affect blacks disproportionately, Smith said: Black New Jerseyans are three times more likely than whites to be arrested, with potential far-ranging consequences including loss of jobs and benefits, loss of student loans and difficulty obtaining future employment. Pot arrests also clog courts and distract law enforcement officials from more serious crimes, coalition members said.
ACLU New Jersey Director Udi Ofer said that based on comparisons to Colorado, which he said reaped between $60 million and $70 million in revenue from legal pot sales in that state's first full year of legalization, New Jersey could expect $100 million or more.
David Nathan, a Princeton-based psychiatrist and clinical associate professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, compared some of the group's goals to previous efforts to educate children about smoking cigarettes — efforts, he said, that have decreased tobacco use.
"That campaign worked, not by making tobacco illegal for adults," he said. "It worked by giving kids realistic, evidence-based, scientific and appropriate education about the harms of smoking and, frankly, making it a lot less cool. That's what we have to do with marijuana."
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 20, 1943 (UP) -- Gene Krupa, swingband leader, pleaded innocent today to a charge that he contributed to the delinquency of a minor by sending a 17yearold boy to his hotel room for marihuana cigarettes. Judge Thomas J. Foley continued the case to Jan. 26 on a motion by defense attorney, J.W. Ehrlich. Mr. Krupa was arrested last night by Federal narcotics agents after appearing at a local theatre. In continuing the case, Judge Foley made public a statement which the youth, John Pateakos, of Bedford, Mass., made to the narcotics agents. The District Attorney's office said that Federal agents arrested Pateakos and found marihuana cigarettes in his possession.
What difference would it make? The way they run New Jersey I’d thought that they were already high.
The great thing about marijuana is that it makes you both stupid and sterile.
prohibition is marxism
Yowzer, I can see the greedy pols setting the legal price in Jersey, dope’ll cost $100/gram. Snicker!
Coalition so get everyone high so Big Brother meets no resistance while establshing the NWO
Well why not, New Jersey is already the acknowledged leader in the race to be this nation’s toilet. This will fit right in!
On a national level, agreed. I believe a state may legitimately prohibit substances, however.
No matter, I think mj prohibition is and always was a fool's errand. One look at the electorate tells you it's on its way out. Opposition is highly concentrated in the oldest age group, while the strongest support is in the younger groups.
Exit polls from the 2014 medical marijuana vote in Florida illustrate this point. The measure got 58% of the vote, just short of the 60% needed. The numbers are striking =>
Ages ==> Yes / No
65y + => 38% / 62%
50-64 => 58% / 42%
40-49 => 63% / 37%
30-39 => 68% / 32%
25-29 => 75% / 25%
18-24 => 83% / 17%
Those who use marijuana will find it difficult to find a job and will risk keeping a job. Companies are requiring the passing of a drug test for employment. Companies are also requiring the passing of a drug test after any incident of an accident. Also, companies do background checks and any incident of a drug arrest will prevent employment.
Sure, why not? They already vote as if they were stoned out of their minds.
Aldous Huxley called it in "Brave New World".
From the same electorate that elected Obama, and for the same reason. They are out of their F***ing minds. Incredibly stupid, incredibly misinformed, it is no great surprise that from this group one stupid thing will follow another.
There's a reason why everything is going to sh*t at the same time. It's because the populace has become too stupid and misinformed to maintain civilization, and this is just more evidence of that sorry state of affairs.
Some are - I've never been tested for a regular position.
” Coalition so get everyone high so Big Brother meets no resistance while establshing the NWO”
Yep
UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH......
Pass me some a that happiness, man.
Sounds........................................far out, man.
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