Marijuana sales are expected to net the state $300 million annually in tax revenue. Why wait? Remember, while you pause before agreeing, those speed bumps in your mind are merely fiction. On the whole, DUI rates and fatal car crashes in states where marijuana is legal are declining, according to a report by the Drug Policy Alliance. After marijuana was legal to sell in their states, a Colorado Department of Public Safety report showed a 6 percent decrease in the violent crime rate statewide from 2009 to 2014, and Washington decreased by 10 percent from 2011 to 2014.
The only thing holding back swift passage of a law to legalize marijuana in New Jersey are old perceptions, long since debunked. The state will not, as some may fear, be transformed into a zombie state of stoners scarfing down junk food and fast food and causing mayhem in the streets like in some bad B-movie. Don’t expect madness as depicted in “Reefer Madness,” or smoke pouring out of the windows of a pot-filled van like Cheech and Chong.