Passaic County Young Republican President Donnie DeDio:
“After much internal deliberation, I will be voting NO for Marijuana Legalization.
I am passionate about preserving individual liberty and freedom; I certainly do not believe that it is the government’s responsibility to dictate how we choose to live our lives. However, I do not believe that society is ready for marijuana legalization. It will send a harmful message and wrongly confuse our youth about the real dangers behind the drug.
What really moved me about legalization is a trip I took with the Wayne PAL to Boston last winter. I coach middle school travel basketball at the PAL and every year the PAL basketball program spends President’s Day in Boston. Marijuana is legal in Massachusetts. The hotel where we stayed stunk of marijuana. People were smoking it in their rooms and outside the lobby. Hotel management said they could not do anything because marijuana was legal in Massachusetts.
In my opinion, our youth should not be subjected to blatant drug use in public. We all know the dangers behind marijuana. Legalization will mainstream the drug and further exacerbate its harmful effects.
The reason why this question is on the ballot is because Governor Murphy could not get legalization passed through New Jersey’s Democrat controlled State Senate. Many Democrats including State Senator Ron Rice (D-Newark) vehemently oppose legalization. I stand with the bi-partisan group of Senators that stopped legalization and will vote NO to Question 1.”