Not only has petty political squabbling caused New Jersey’s legislature to fail to fully legalize marijuana, it has also resulted in a failure to provide even the short term secondary solution of decriminalizing marijuana as we wait for the initiative to head to the ballot in November.
First, let’s be clear, New Jersey: decriminalization is not an optimal policy choice in comparison to legalization. Decriminalization policy alone would still leave the marijuana market untaxed, leaving millions of dollars on the table that could instead be used to rebuild New Jersey’s most impoverished communities.
Moreover, policy focused solely on decriminalization will continue to perpetuate a cycle of unnecessary -- and often discriminatory -- interactions between marijuana users and law enforcement since marijuana will still be considered “illegal contraband.” Conversely, legalization is associated with dramatic and sustained declines in marijuana arrests.