As we are seeing in legalized states, the safety and economic consequences of legalizing recreational marijuana far outweigh the perceived benefits.
Marijuana legalization ushers in a new Big Tobacco-type industry that comes with a multitude of public health concerns, including addiction, youth drug use and higher numbers of minority arrests.
And with the nation in the grips of an opioid crisis, we cannot forget that the CDC has found that marijuana users are nearly three times more likely to be addicted to heroin.
At a time when legalizing recreational marijuana remains a contentious issue of debate throughout the country, our local lawmakers should not be accelerating the proliferation of a Big Marijuana industry. Murphy’s promise, already way past due, should show Trenton what we want is a New Jersey free from an industry that has shown it is about deception and lies and becoming the next Big Tobacco.
Stephen D. Reid is executive director of NJRAMP and mayor of Point Pleasant Beach