How much longer will this crazy patchwork of enforcement policies and legalization expectations continue? If New Jersey lawmakers can’t figure out what to do about pot, we have a suggestion: Decriminalize now, work out the rest later.
That shouldn’t be this hard.
The ongoing indecision has created some rather ridiculous conditions for law enforcement to navigate. There remains widespread agreement that some form of decriminalization is the minimum the state should do; far too many people are having lives ruined for possession of a drug already legal in many states, and likely to eventually -- and maybe soon -- become legal in New Jersey. But support for full legalization remains uncertain, and a decriminalization push hasn’t gone far.