State Proposes Bold Law to Treat Pot Like Tobacco And Expunge All Records of Marijuana CrimesBy Claire Bernish Should the bill, A4193, pass, convenience stores would be permitted to sell cannabis alongside cigarettes available to anyone aged 19 and older. This bill would legalize marijuana by removing all criminal liability associated with marijuana from the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice as well as its regulation as a controlled dangerous substance under the New Jersey Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, the proposed law states. Sponsored by Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll once deemed the state Legislatures Most Conservative member, as the Newark Patch pointed out the legislation [l]egalizes marijuana and provides for records expungement for certain past marijuana offenses; treats marijuana products similar to tobacco products, including the use of civil penalties for providing marijuana to persons under 19 years of age. Carrolls bill audacious thumbs its nose at the DEAs vehemently criticized decision this year not to reschedule cannabis from its current inexplicable designation as a dangerous substance of no medical value, akin to heroin or cocaine. To me its just not a big deal, Carroll told Politico. Its already ubiquitous. Anybody who thinks this is somehow going to increase the availability of marijuana has never been 19. If thats the case, then whats the big deal about having it available at the local 7-Eleven? Alcohol, after all, is a standard fixture at convenience stores and gas stations, with store owners facing fines and other civil penalties for underage distribution. The whole point here is to get the government out of the business of treating at least marijuana use as a crime and treat it instead as a social problem, Carroll continued, adding hes never tried cannabis, personally. Youre talking to the worlds most boring, straightest guy, he said. Ive never popped a pill, never smoked a joint, nothing. Ive never quite understood the all the allure of this stuff. Apparently, though, he doesnt feel his personal views concerning substances should override contrary opinions and choices. On the surface, the right-wing lawmaker would seem the last person sponsoring legislation taking such a radical departure from federal law but on issues of personal freedom, his stances align most closely with libertarian philosophy. Carroll not only co-sponsored New Jerseys medical cannabis legislation, in April he proposed lowering the states drinking age to 18, saying, according to the Patch, If youre old enough to make the determination you want to enlist in the Marines, youre old enough to determine if you want to have a beer. Despite an overwhelming public perception cannabis should at least be decriminalized and growing national disillusionment with the failed drug war with the resultant largest prison population in the world, gang violence, strengthening of Mexican cartels, epidemic-level police violence, and inability of those in need to get life-saving medical cannabis treatment the Drug Enforcement Agency opted to maintain marijuana prohibition this year. Should the proposed law indeed pass, New Jersey would join Alaska, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon in legal, recreational weed. In fact, degrees of decriminalization and legalization mostly for medical use exist in half the states in the nation. Novembers election will likely expand those numbers. Ballot measures could potentially legalize recreational use in varying degrees in California, Nevada, Massachusetts, Arizona, and Nevada and although they arent all expected to pass, the segment of the population arguing against legalization shrinks seemingly by the month. New Jersey lawmakers are attempting a multi-pronged approach to legalizing weed. Another bill, A2068, filed in January by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora ironically, one of the most liberal members of the state Legislature and State Sen. Nicholas Scutari would legalize cannabis and treat it akin to alcohol. A third is expected after several legislators, including Gusciora and Scutari, return from an information-gathering field trip examining legalization in Colorado in October. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie whom Carroll refers to as the Fat Man will almost certainly veto any legislation concerning cannabis. But his tenure in office draws to a close just over a year from now. We would like to get the ball rolling, even with this governor and even if he vetoes it, the choice then could be made to put it on the ballot through the Legislature or set the groundwork for the next administration, Gusciora told Politico. I think its only a matter of time. Claire Bernish writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared. Bravo! This is exactly how it should be. Right because there is no comparison between Marijuana and Alcohol!! Kudos and Best wishes. MULTI TERMS IN OFFICE IS THE PROBLEM WORLDWIDE. THE MAJORITY OF ALL PEOPLE, EVEN POLITICIANS, WHO RUN FOR OFFICE THE FIRST TIME WANT TO DO THE RIGHT THINGS FOR THE COMMON GOOD. WITH THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF INTERRELATED COMPETING GOODS BUT THE COMMON GOOD 90% OF THE TIME LOSES OUT TO SHORT TERM SUBJECTIVE SPECIAL INTEREST GOALS WHEN THE MAJORITY OF ALL PEOPLE WORLDWIDE SURVEYED BELIEVE ABOUT 85% OF ALL PEOPLE ARE GOOD AND WOULD WORK FOR THE COMMON GOOD IF THERE WERE A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD. ONE 6 YEAR TERM LIMITS FOR CONGRESS IS THE MOST EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD. EVEN THE POWERS THAT BE WILL BE BETTER OFF BECAUSE FREE PEOPLE, WITH A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD, PRODUCE MORE, KEEP MORE AND SHARE MORE. I assure you that the over usage of CAPs does not have the intended effect you desire. Just ask the idiot JosephConrad that pukes up indiscernible CAP messages that no one reads. I agree with you. I dont read all CAPS it bothers my eyes. ZZZZ. ITS ABOUT TIME!! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c498ce1900ebdb26e776bc093e28a3f752d8486c40687eb3a09d4f2cbeccde21.jpg Great more dumbed down youth is just what this society needs. Our public education system and crappy parenting do enough of that already. You have absorbed much propaganda To illuminate the Meier study of the Dunedin cohort, the one that claims heavy cannabis use can lower ones IQ by up to 8 points The cohort of about a thousand kids was followed from age 13 to 38, with various data collected over that 25 years What the data shows generally, is that about half the group used cannabis to some extent, and about half didnt The users started out about two points higher than the non-users, and after 25 years, lost about a point, and still were a point up on the non-users The 3 percent who showed the up to 8 point drop, scored higher in the Arithmetic, picture completion, and block diagram sub tests, while the non-users scored lower on these three sub tests So those IQ losses were in social skills, and one would expect people with social anxiety disorders, high functioning Autism, and similar conditions would be expected to gain in those analytic skills while losing social ones, particularly when they are regarded as criminals for using the only treatment that has been useful for those conditions for thousands of years And 3 percent of a given population is an expected number for those most susceptible Note that the first human writing about cannabis was that of medicine, and that cannabis is included in the earliest human writings How about this, instead of worrying about dumbed down youth that do no harm to you, worry about your own family. OK But I think you may have been responding to another comment Oh but the dumbed down youth is my problem and they do cause harm to me. They are completely untrained to go into life, they have no marketable job skills due to very low proficiency abilities. Washoe County Nevada brags about how 73% of the kids graduated. Yet only 8% were proficient in Reading Writing and Arithmetic!! In fact these Youth you are so protective of cant even figure the tax on a pizza with out a computer!! Unless they punch in the right code they dont know even where to start!!! So yeah, it is everybodys problem!!!. Not gonna happen. Number its not true, pot is not the same as tobacco, and two, it would greatly damage society to legalize such a harmful drug. To illuminate the Meier study of the Dunedin cohort, the one that claims heavy cannabis use can lower ones IQ by up to 8 points The cohort of about a thousand kids was followed from age 13 to 38, with various data collected over that 25 years What the data shows generally, is that about half the group used cannabis to some extent, and about half didnt The users started out about two points higher than the non-users, and after 25 years, lost about a point, and still were a point up on the non-users The 3 percent who showed the up to 8 point drop, scored higher in the Arithmetic, picture completion, and block diagram sub tests, while the non-users scored lower on these three sub tests So those IQ losses were in social skills, and one would expect people with social anxiety disorders, high functioning Autism, and similar conditions would be expected to gain in those analytic skills while losing social ones, particularly when they are regarded as criminals for using the only treatment that has been useful for those conditions for thousands of years And 3 percent of a given population is an expected number for those most susceptible Note that the first human writing about cannabis was that of medicine, and that cannabis is included in the earliest human writings There is no research or study that agrees with your ignorant statement The two major government studies; the LaGuardia, and Shafer Commision reports, both concluded that cannabis was no threat to society or users Cannabis is infinitely less harmful than tobacco. Science has thus far failed to find any sense in which cannabis is harmful, whereas tobacco kills nearly half a million Americans a year. Thats what people who want it legalized want us to think, but the research is clear, Marijuana is much more harmful than cigarettes. People are less inclined to want something if it isnt illegal. Drug use decreased in Portugal after legalization. iprazhm, thanks for referring us to a .gov propaganda site whose goal is continuing and supporting failed policies and maximizing the harm or a harmless plant erroneously called a drug. You have been well indoctrinated by your master. If you smoked a joint, that brainwashing would quickly disappear and your mental health would return You apparently didnt read my comment, I am thoroughly aware of the I.Q. study you reference, and demonstrated the major flaw, additionally, no consideration was made about the negative effects of prohibition As for the NIDA studies you reference, if you read them, you will find that they only establish an association between cannabis and some psycho social harm, but do not provide proof of cause. This is a deception used continually in speeches from prohibitionists, but association is not causation, and I have noted the true cause, which is substantiated by the data in those same studies So they dont prove over and over again, anything, with the noted exception of the work done by Dr. Donald Tashkin and his team, who were funded by NIDA for over forty years, investigating the harm caused to the lungs by smoking cannabis, and after that time, concluded that smoking cannabis does not cause COPD or cancer, and may provide some protection for those who also smoke tobacco To be more clear about the association between divergent thought conditions and cannabis, studies demonstrate that genetic variants found in these conditions, also predict a natural affinity for use of the herb, so any group of cannabis users will necessarily contain a greater number of people with one or more of these conditions, and the negative effects seen are more likely the effect of being treated like criminals, forced to dissociate with the misinformed public, and often family members The studies can not prove cause because the association is coincidental, only proving that people so affected will often seek out the natural remedy that humans have used for thousands of years If we examine prohibition as the cause of these problems the true problem appears The criteria for substance use disorder in the DSM would not apply to most of those diagnosed, in the absence of prohibition, because people would not have trouble acquiring the herb, and they would not be forced into secrecy, or to engage in criminal activity These are major personal, and social foundations that are disrupted, often for people who are at risk, due to a genetic basis for some divergent thought condition, which carries a natural attraction to the herb, that would not exist absent prohibition Addiction is another thing altogether, which is not caused by cannabis, though those with addictive personalities may choose it as there substance of choice, or substitute, and examining those potential substances of choice, all the research confirms that cannabis is the least harmful Any specific studies that you can refer me to regarding the association between divergent thought conditions and cannabis? I do know that there is a tendency for those suffering trauma to self-medicate, but am only familiar with your emphasis to the extent that Cannabis is sought out by those who have exhausted traditional remedies for the treatment of autism, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, depression, and schizophrenia. I want to see former and present prohibitionists forced to pay reparations to those whose lives were damaged by Marijuana Crimes. Maybe the Garden State of NJ will save more great old farms from becoming shopping malls and housing developments 