The Garden State is shaping up to be the next state to legalize medical marijuana. Back in February, the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act passed 22-16 in the NJ Senate, and the NJ Assembly health committee passed an amended version of the bill in June. NJ Gov. Jon Corzine (D) said he supports the bill and would sign it into law. But that's only if it reaches his desk by January. Corzine lost his bid for re-election and will be succeeded by Republican Chris Christi, who has expressed concerns about the bill.
The NJ medical-marijuana campaign has been so successful due to the efforts of Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey, which has led the grassroots campaign and gained the support of the New Jersey State Nurses Association, the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians, and other state health organization. Public support for medical marijuana in the state has reached 86%.
More support for the legislation came from the story of Jersey resident John Ray Wilson, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is currently facing 20 years in prison for growing marijuana to treat his condition. NJ Sen. Nicholas Scutari, primary sponsor of the medical-marijuana bill, has asked Gov. Corzine to pardon Wilson.
New Jersey's homicide rate that has risen 31% since 1998, and the state is struggling with a $34 billion dollar deficit. It’s hard to believe that state prosecutors and Charlie Christi are so keen on spending tax dollars to prosecute and imprison a nonviolent medical marijuana user and oppose legislation that would free up police resources and bring in tax revenue with the implementation of medical-marijuana dispensaries.
Then I thought, maybe no one has explained this to them in a way they can understand. So I’ll give it a go:
“Hey, how ya doan? Listen brah. This guy that’s smokin’ the ganja to help with his MS or whatevah, he needs that stuff so he can eat an Italian sub with bomb cold cuts and and it ain’t like I can’t already get dank buds all the time just by goin’ down to da shore. Why don’t yous guys free up some mula so we can get betta parkways and da cops can go aftah all those friggin' douche bags that raised our murdah rates? Capeesh?”