Forget decriminalization. Time to legalize weed | Editorial

(AP Photo | Richard Vogel, File) 

 

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

New Jersey is clearly moving to join the many states that have legalized recreational marijuana - eight in just the last five years.

We could do this in two ways: either by making pot a legal substance and taxing it, or by permitting people to possess a small amount, instead of arresting them.

So now that a renewed effort is underway to reform our failed marijuana policy, time to revive that critical debate: legalization, or decriminalization?

The new Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, has said: "Good people don't smoke marijuana.

We vote for legalization. Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) says he's about to drop a bill that would tax and legalize pot, which the two most powerful people in the Legislature, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, have indicated they will support.

Good call. For years, many thought decriminalization was the best we could do. It is a step in the right direction: Blacks get arrested far more than whites, even though their pot use is roughly the same; a glaring injustice. Huge numbers of people, yoked with criminal records, are unable to get jobs or student loans.

But if we simply decriminalize, we'll still have an illegal market. Those who smoke pot will no longer face any risk, but those who sell it in places like Newark will still get shot in turf battles between dealers.

Selling pot to Americans will still be the single largest source of revenue for Mexican cartels, inspiring unending bloodshed. And New Jersey will still forfeit hundreds of millions in annual tax revenue to illegal organizations.

Thankfully, we're about to elect a new governor, who will almost certainly support legalization. Democratic frontrunner Phil Murphy does, as do two of his challengers, Jim Johnson and Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex).

How many patients were served, how much marijuana was sold and how many doctors are recommending patients to the program.

After all, a legal, controlled market is not only less violent, but less likely to facilitate drug use by kids. The usual argument against legalization is that it will cause more teenagers to use pot, which serves as a gateway drug. But this isn't borne out by the facts.

Addicts are just as likely to start with alcohol, and many high schoolers have an easier time getting weed than beer. Unlike liquor store owners, weed dealers aren't concerned about selling to minors because they have no license to lose.

Sen. Scutari, a municipal prosecutor, says adolescent marijuana use has actually dropped in Colorado since it legalized pot for adults two years ago. There was no significant increase in driving while intoxicated from drugs, and the use of opioids has gone down. It's been a huge success, he said, raising $200 million annually in tax revenue and creating tens of thousands of licensed jobs.

New Jersey is losing out those safe, legal jobs, and about $300 million in direct sales tax annually from pot, New Jersey Policy Perspective estimates. Money that could go to drug treatment in schools.

Yet just as Gov. Chris Christie won't support legalization, neither will the leading Republican candidates to replace him. On this issue, our hopes are pinned on a Democrat.