NJ’s new legalization law recognizes that there is “no difference in substance” between cannabis and marijuana. Both words refer to the same exact substance.
Cannabis is legal in NJ, but bad old “marijuana” is not. Are we seriously doing this again?
But according to the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, “cannabis refers to the regulated form of the plant (what will be grown, bought, and sold in licensed stores), whereas marijuana refers to the unregulated form of the plant (what is grown, bought, and sold in the underground market).”
In other words, just as New Jersey is ending cannabis prohibition, state officials are breathing new life into one of the oldest sources of racial bias embedded in the drug war: The idea that cannabis sold by white people is good, but marijuana sold by people of color is bad.
And here we are again, back in the 1930s.