Chief Michigan said, “The law inexplicably bans police officers from notifying parents the first time their children are found to be using or in possession of marijuana or alcohol. Overreaching even further, the law criminalizes the good-faith actions of police officers who, smelling marijuana, try to investigate the underage use or possession by a child.
“While those in New Jersey voted to legalize cannabis for adults, Trenton has taken the extraordinary leap to pass a law that goes far beyond the voter mandate to include de-facto legalization of marijuana and alcohol for children,” he said.
Chief Michigan noted that as “public backlash against this unprecedented legislative threat to children grows, Trenton now is signaling that there will be a ‘clean-up’ bill that will allow officers to provide notification to parents when their children are caught using or possessing marijuana or alcohol. This clean-up language as proposed does nothing to correct this fatally flawed legislation. Officers would continue to face potential for serious criminal deprivation of civil rights charges for the common-sense act of simply investigating underage use or possession of alcohol or marijuana by minors.”
Sen. Singer said, “let no one tell you from the senate or the assembly or the governor that they didn’t understand what was in this bill. They were all briefed on it. This is a disgusting piece of legislation. The voters did not vote that we should have 12-year-olds drinking beer, smoking marijuana and nothing can be done about it. In this piece of legislation anyone under 21 is considered a minor. That means college students, people who are 18, 19 and 20 years old are considered a minor and you cannot search them.”
“Think about that – they hide a case a beer in a cooler and you can’t search them and they can’t even give you permission to search it. If the police do anything, they can be charged with a third-degree crime. That can mean jail or a major fine,” the senator added.