As a former U.S. attorney, sworn to faithfully execute the law, the governor's position is problematic.
GOVERNOR Christie has called the War on Drugs a failure, and he supports rehabilitation for first-time drug users. However, instead of calling for ending the federal ban on marijuana cultivation, distribution and use, which would be a logical conclusion based on his observation, the governor said he would as president enforce federal law by overriding states that have legalized marijuana.
The governor has asserted that marijuana is a "gateway drug" and therefore should remain a prohibited substance, because youngsters must be protected from the adverse consequences of smoking marijuana.
Drug addiction has multiple causes, to say the least, and for the governor to claim that using marijuana will lead to hard drug use ignores the fact that drug addicts more often than not abuse alcohol, typically smoke cigarettes, have bad diets and may be sexually promiscuous before they turn to hard drugs. (And they probably attended public schools as well.)
Thus, the last person qualified to make an accurate diagnosis about drug addiction is a presidential candidate pandering to the "get tough" crowd on marijuana users.
Given Christie's anemic poll numbers in the Republican presidential primary, his drug warrior stance is politically DOA.
Christie also asserts that the recreational use of marijuana is not a "victimless" crime or activity, because, according to the governor, "it is not them that are the only victims. Their families are the victims, too, their children are the victims, too, and their employers are victims, also."
According to the World Health Organization Media Center on Alcohol, "The harmful use of alcohol can also result in harm to other people, such as family, members, co-workers and strangers. Moreover, the harmful use of alcohol results in significant health, social and economic burden to society at large."
Presented with additional facts from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism — namely that nearly 88,000 Americans die from alcohol-related causes annually, that alcohol misuse costs more than $230 billion annually, that about 700,000 adolescents ages 12-17 have an alcohol use disorder — will our governor and presidential candidate, a self-described uncompromising anti-marijuana crusader, call for the prohibition of alcohol because children, and adults, must be protected from the scourge of AUD?
If not, the governor must justify why alcohol should be legal and why marijuana should be illegal, even though the harm from alcohol dwarfs any of the alleged abuses from marijuana.
None of the proponents of marijuana legalization is suggesting that under-age individuals would be able to obtain marijuana if the ban was lifted nationally. Moreover, Republicans are supposed to be staunch defenders of the 10th Amendment, which would leave legalizing marijuana up to state legislatures or up to the people via a referendum vote.
Although Christie has been an outspoken critic of marijuana legalization, New Jersey passed a medical marijuana law before he took office in 2010. Predictably, the governor has been slow to let New Jerseyans obtain medical marijuana in a timely manner during his tenure as governor.
This is a shameful display of arrogance, letting his personal views cause him to turn his back on his duty to uphold the law. As a former U.S. attorney, sworn to faithfully execute the law, the governor's position is even more problematic.
Christie has created a red herring. Prohibiting the recreational use of marijuana should never have been enacted. In a free society, people do not need the government's permission to smoke, drink or ingest any substance. Christie's insistence that he is adamantly opposed to the legalizations of marijuana reveals that to him freedom is what the government says it is. In other words, the governor opposes what America is supposed to be all about: individual liberty.
Murray Sabrin is a professor of finance at Ramapo College and a former candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.
GOVERNOR Christie has called the War on Drugs a failure, and he supports rehabilitation for first-time drug users. However, instead of calling for ending the federal ban on marijuana cultivation, distribution and use, which would be a logical conclusion based on his observation, the governor said he would as president enforce federal law by overriding states that have legalized marijuana.
The governor has asserted that marijuana is a "gateway drug" and therefore should remain a prohibited substance, because youngsters must be protected from the adverse consequences of smoking marijuana.
Drug addiction has multiple causes, to say the least, and for the governor to claim that using marijuana will lead to hard drug use ignores the fact that drug addicts more often than not abuse alcohol, typically smoke cigarettes, have bad diets and may be sexually promiscuous before they turn to hard drugs. (And they probably attended public schools as well.)
Thus, the last person qualified to make an accurate diagnosis about drug addiction is a presidential candidate pandering to the "get tough" crowd on marijuana users.
Given Christie's anemic poll numbers in the Republican presidential primary, his drug warrior stance is politically DOA.
Christie also asserts that the recreational use of marijuana is not a "victimless" crime or activity, because, according to the governor, "it is not them that are the only victims. Their families are the victims, too, their children are the victims, too, and their employers are victims, also."
According to the World Health Organization Media Center on Alcohol, "The harmful use of alcohol can also result in harm to other people, such as family, members, co-workers and strangers. Moreover, the harmful use of alcohol results in significant health, social and economic burden to society at large."
Alcohol and death
Furthermore, according to the WHO, "Alcohol consumption causes death and disability relatively early in life. In the age group 20-39 years approximately 25 percent of the total deaths are alcohol-attributable." But there are more negative consequences of alcohol abuse. "There is a causal relationship between harmful use of alcohol and a range of mental and behavioral disorders."Presented with additional facts from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism — namely that nearly 88,000 Americans die from alcohol-related causes annually, that alcohol misuse costs more than $230 billion annually, that about 700,000 adolescents ages 12-17 have an alcohol use disorder — will our governor and presidential candidate, a self-described uncompromising anti-marijuana crusader, call for the prohibition of alcohol because children, and adults, must be protected from the scourge of AUD?
If not, the governor must justify why alcohol should be legal and why marijuana should be illegal, even though the harm from alcohol dwarfs any of the alleged abuses from marijuana.
None of the proponents of marijuana legalization is suggesting that under-age individuals would be able to obtain marijuana if the ban was lifted nationally. Moreover, Republicans are supposed to be staunch defenders of the 10th Amendment, which would leave legalizing marijuana up to state legislatures or up to the people via a referendum vote.
Although Christie has been an outspoken critic of marijuana legalization, New Jersey passed a medical marijuana law before he took office in 2010. Predictably, the governor has been slow to let New Jerseyans obtain medical marijuana in a timely manner during his tenure as governor.
This is a shameful display of arrogance, letting his personal views cause him to turn his back on his duty to uphold the law. As a former U.S. attorney, sworn to faithfully execute the law, the governor's position is even more problematic.
Cannabis in the schools
However, the governor is attempting to make amends with parents of children suffering from such illnesses as seizures. The governor recently signed a bill that would allow schools to permit students to use cannabis products on their premises. Why do parents and individuals need the government's permission in the first place to use a product that a physician deems is in the best interest of his patient? Whatever happened to the inviolate doctor-patient relationship?Christie has created a red herring. Prohibiting the recreational use of marijuana should never have been enacted. In a free society, people do not need the government's permission to smoke, drink or ingest any substance. Christie's insistence that he is adamantly opposed to the legalizations of marijuana reveals that to him freedom is what the government says it is. In other words, the governor opposes what America is supposed to be all about: individual liberty.
Murray Sabrin is a professor of finance at Ramapo College and a former candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.
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