State Sen. Richard Codey has no problem with medical marijuana being legal in New Jersey— in fact, he says he supports decriminalizing marijuana altogether. But as legislators in Trenton work out the details of a roughly 150-page bill to create an entirely new — and legal — recreational marijuana industry, Codey is firm: They won't get his vote.
"It's like issues of conscious — like the right to die, gay marriage back in the day, capital punishment," he said Tuesday. Codey said he's read the reports about a rise in automobile crashes in states where recreational marijuana is legal and he doesn't believe it's good for New Jersey. "If you're stoned," he said, "you're not that good a driver."
Recreational weed is legal in nine states and the District of Colombia. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, would like New Jersey to be next; he campaigned on a promise to make marijuana legal as a social justice issue — putting an end to the disproportionately high percentage of arrests of black and brown adults — but also to raise revenue.