Legal Weed Already Facing Backlash in New Jersey [View all]
If all goes according to plan, legal recreational marijuana will soon be growing in the Garden State. This week, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is reportedly meeting with lawmakers to began hashing out the remaining sticking points of the “New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory and Expungement Aid Modernization Act,” a bill which passed the State assembly and senate committees in late November. Once amended, the bill is expected to pass a full legislative vote before being signed into law later this year. While a recent Rutgers University poll found 60 percent support for legalization, dozens of local officials aren’t so high on the idea. A coalition of mayors, council members and law enforcement from 45 New Jersey towns have preemptively banned marijuana dispensaries.
The coalition is backed by the Responsible Approaches to Marijuana Policy, the most powerful anti-marijuana lobbying group in the country, which has targeted local officials with factsheets touting the negative effects of marijuana legalization in states like Colorado.
“If you legalize recreational marijuana, you will see homelessness go up, you will see people losing their jobs, you will see more ‘drugged driving,’ you will see more accidents, and more deaths,” Stephen Reid, executive director of NJ RAMP, told WNYC.
One example cited by RAMP is an 151 percent increased in marijuana-related traffic fatalities in Colorado since 2013. The ACLU has disputed that statistic, saying there is not enough data to determine causality, and pointing out that marijuana’s psychoactive component, THC, stays in the bloodstream for up to 30 days.
Ringwood Police Chief Joe Walker told WNYC that he’s opposed to legal recreational marijuana because he believes it’s a gateway drug that will worsen the opioid crisis.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/legal-weed-new-jersey-backlash-775860/
Oh FFS
= new reply since forum marked as read
