Letter: Legalize Marijuana

The expressed opinions or views of this letter does not necessarily represent the opinion of the MiddletownMike blog:


Dear Editor,

New Jersey must legalize marijuana. Scientific research has shown cannabis is much safer than alcohol and tobacco.

Medical uses for the plant are numerous and most seriously ill patients can benefit from it, as an alternative to dangerous prescription medications.
New Jersey currently arrests approximately 30,000 people per year on marijuana charges and unfairly brands them with criminal records.
These criminal records cause difficulties in obtaining employment, housing and education.

Until NJ legalizes marijuana, municipalities should pass ordinances declaring enforcement of state marijuana laws unjust and their lowest law enforcement priority.
Police should cease enforcing cannabis prohibition laws and instead focus their limited resources on matters of public safety.


Eric Hafner
Toms River

Hundreds in New Brunswick sign petition to change local marijuana law

Press Release
January 23, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:
Evan Nison
NORML-NJ
evan@normlnj.org
http://www.normlnj.org

(New Brunswick, NJ, January 23, 2010) -- Volunteers from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law, New Jersey State Chapter (NORML-NJ) have begun gathering signatures from New Brunswick voters for a ballot initiative that would make marijuana arrests for personal use by adults the lowest law enforcement priority in the city.

"Passage of this initiative would increase public safety by freeing up local police resources to focus on serious issues and at the same time save taxpayer money by reducing arrests for a law that frankly, most Americans feel is unjust and more harmful to people than the drug itself." said Evan Nison, Ballot Initiatives Coordinator for NORML-NJ.

While marijuana possession and use would remain illegal, it is hoped that a successful ballot initiative will result in a significantly reduced number of arrests for simple marijuana possession within the City of New Brunswick. Aggressively arresting and prosecuting citizens in New Brunswick for simple marijuana possession offenses costs taxpayers dearly and squanders precious New Brunswick police resources, which many feel would be much better spent on preventing and prosecuting serious and violent crime.

Almost half of the US population admits to having tried marijuana and decades of aggressive arresting and expensive prosecution for personal marijuana possession by adults has utterly failed to lower or even affect the prevalence of marijuana use in any way. Subsequently, there is growing discontent by taxpayers regarding the continued irresponsible use of tax revenue on ineffectual marijuana policies.

“As a society facing one of the harshest recessions in almost a century we can no longer afford to indiscriminately waste tremendous amounts of tax dollars and police resources on outdated, misguided and irrational marijuana policies which clearly do not work,” says Frederic DiMaria, Jr., Esq., a practicing criminal attorney and Chairman of NORML-NJ.

Last year nearly 30,000 people in New Jersey were arrested for marijuana possession, costing taxpayers an estimated $3,000 to $10,000 per case. The criminal penalties in New Jersey, widely regarded as some of the nation’s harshest, can include up to six months in jail, severe fines and lengthy suspension of driving privileges even if no motor vehicle was involved in the crime. Conviction on a marijuana offense will also result in a criminal record reflecting a drug crime and can pose great difficulties in finding a job and accessing student financial aid. The latter is of obvious concern to college students, a substantial segment of the population of New Brunswick.

Matt Brockbank, a Rutgers student in New Brunswick helping to coordinate the local effort, said, "People need to look at the fact that alcohol causes significantly more harm on both the user and society than marijuana ever has. It's time we rethink marijuana prohibition."

Seattle, Washington, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Santa Cruz, California are among over 30 cities nationwide that have successfully adopted similar “Low-Priority” ordinances. Seattle's policy resulted in a 75% reduction in simple marijuana possession arrests after just 2 years and has been hailed as a huge success. The New Brunswick initiative would be the first of its kind in New Jersey.

NORML-NJ is a statewide organization working to end marijuana prohibition, stop arrests of consumers and provide educational research and legal information on alternatives to marijuana prohibition.

To schedule an interview contact Evan Nison via email at evan@normlnj.org.

Legalizing Marijuana Tops Obama Online Poll

Break out the blunts and pass the munchies, the results are in from the Change.gov online poll that asked for people's opinions on what are the most important issues that they would like to see an Obama administration address. The issue that topped list was wether or not the president elect would consider legalizing the use of Marijuana.

With all of the more pressing concerns that face our nation like the economy and Iraq, I found this rather amusing and I an sure it was not what team Obama was asking for.

  

The following letter was posted on the Congressional Blog page of The Hill, it was written by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Deputy Director Paul Armentano:

 
Be careful what you wish for.

Last week, the website Change.gov — the official website of the Obama Transition Team — asked the public to provide them with a list of the top public policy questions facing America. Visitors to the site were then asked to vote on which questions should take priority for the incoming administration.

According to the website, “participation … outpaced our expectations. … Since its launch … the Open for Questions tool has processed over 600,000 votes from more than 10,000 people on more than 7,300 questions.”

Ironically but perhaps not surprisingly the top question for the new administration — as chosen on and voted by the general public — was one most politicians seem utterly unwilling to talk about.

“Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?”

To anyone thinking the #1 question was some kind of fluke, consider this: More than a dozen of the top 50 vote-getting questions pertained to amending America’s drug policies. For example:

Question #7: “Thirteen states have compassionate use programs for medial Marijuana, yet the federal government continues to prosecute sick and dying people. Isn’t it time for the federal government to step out of the way and let doctors and families decide what is appropriate?” The public’s demand for the Obama administration?”

Question #13: “How will you fix the current war on drugs in America? and will there be any chance of decriminalizing marijuana?”

Question #15: “What kind of progress can be expected on the decriminalization and legalization for medicinal purposes of marijuana and will you re-prioritize the “War On Drugs” to reflect the need for drug treatment instead of incarceration?”

Following the poll, the Obama Transition Team posted the following reply, “Over the next few days, some of the most popular questions selected by the Change.gov community will be answered by the Transition team, and their responses will be posted here on the site.”

So will Obama’s team respond to the demands of the electorate and initiate an honest, objective, and long-overdue review of U.S. Marijuana policies? Or will the incoming administration — like the outgoing one — hide their collective heads in the sand?

It was just over a month ago when statewide marijuana law reform initiatives in Massachusetts and Michigan prevailed with more votes than America’s soon-to-be 44th President — once again reaffirming the widespread popular support for changing our nation’s antiquated and punitive pot laws. It wasn’t clear that either the national media or the incoming administration were listening then. Are they listening now?