Marijuana legalization is coming close to happening in New Jersey.
By Jeff Edelstein, The Trentonian
POSTED: 06/08/17, 11:08 AM EDT | UPDATED: 1 DAY AGO
And just like a puff of smoke (drifting out of a dorm room and blown through a empty paper towel roll with a dryer sheet stuffed in the end), marijuana prohibition in New Jersey is wafting away.
It feels almost ridiculous, knowing this, but it’s true: Democratic candidate Phil Murphy favors full, Colorado-style legalization, and he’s also the presumptive favorite to win the governor’s seat. (For the record, Republican candidate Kim Guadagno has stated she’s in favor of considering decriminalizing small amounts of pot, which is nice, but isn’t the full kettle.)
Anyway, I posited on Wednesday that marijuana might end up being a key issue in the race for governor. After all, nearly 400,000 adult New Jerseyans smoke weed at least once a month, according to a study done by New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform and New Jersey Policy Perspective. That amount of people could tip an election.
The question than becomes: Am I nuts, or could this really happen? Could the stoned minority be the difference-maker in the 2017 New Jersey governor’s election?
We should not desire to become God-forsaken like Colorado, regardless of the prospects of increased tax revenue. New Jersey residents need to keep their minds clear and focused on doing what is pleasing to God and avoiding sinful lifestyles. Children suffer when mixed messages are sent. For us to adopt the hyper-tolerant Coloradoan mindset toward marijuana would encourage teens and young adults, particularly men, to “check out” of productive society, warping it to a point where we won’t recognize it after 8-10 years. This is not a fait accomplis. We should fight this trend and begin facing the many difficult problems we already have head on. Why invite new and interesting kinds of societal decay when we have so much already?