A burning joint, pleasantly fragrant and wrapped in organic hemp paper, rests between my fingers. I am pondering the reality of war continuing against me for this choice. Like many, I bear scars.
Marijuana smokers and medical cannabis patients in New Jersey are to remain second class citizens. The two-ring, bipartisan political circus in Trenton has failed to deliver a promise of our freedom… again.
Now, we are essentially being held at gunpoint, by the police, until the very moment we are expected to pay out hundreds of millions in taxes. And that day could be as far out as 2022.
Legislators, under the leadership of Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D- Gloucester), have frittered away every opportunity to come to our rescue. Legalization is on hold. Decriminalization isn’t really being entertained. Opposition pols, like Senator Ronald Rice (D-Newark), introduced a bill that would attempt to force us cannabis consumers into drug treatment if the cops catch us with a few grams.
We get the message this time; loud and clear: Ending injustice is not a priority.
Police departments from Hoboken to Cape May are gearing up to have a field day this summer. Young adults age 18-29, people of color, and tourists are targeted for marijuana arrests.
Prosecutors will face a glut of cases in the fall. A lucrative handcuffs-to-treatment pipeline of unlucky young cannabis consumers is already flowing.