Common Sense For New Hampshire

From nj.com:

Legalize marijuana in NJ? One lawmaker says yes

Calling New Jersey’s war on marijuana “a miserable failure,” state Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) said yesterday he wants to follow in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington state and legalize the sale and possession of marijuana here.

Allowing New Jersey to regulate the growth, procession and sale of recreational marijuana would dry up the illegal drug market, clean up street corners and stuff the state’s coffers with a new source of tax revenue, Scutari said in laying out his case during a conference call.

The proposed legislation – expected to be introduced within the next month – comes on the heels of legalization of pot in Colorado and Washington but almost certainly faces an uphill battle in the Statehouse, supporters and opponents concede.

Scutari said there is no companion bill in the Assembly but he hopes a sponsor will come forward.

“We’re not delusional about how simple the effort would be,” Scutari said. “But I think from a standpoint of moving this state and this country forward on its archaic drug laws, I think it’s a step in the right direction.

“It’s high time that we address this issue head on,” he said.

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I wonder if the pun was intended.  Of course I think he’s absolutely right.

The story continues:

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Scutari, a sponsor of the state’s medical marijuana law, said the legislation would not be a decriminalization of the state’s marijuana laws.

“All that does is, to some degree, free people to obtain the marijuana, but it’s still going to be manufactured and dealt illegally. And that’s absolutely the wrong direction that we should go in,” he said. “We should be trying to get drug dealers and criminals off our street corners and this is an effort for doing that.”

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Right again!  The only way to get rid of the crime associated with illicit drugs is to remove the black market.  You don’t see gang wars being fought over the distribution of staplers or toothpaste, or even alcohol for that matter.

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He said details still have to be worked out, such as how many licenses would be permitted. Legalizing marijuana would create a regulated Industry in New Jersey that would promote job creation and tax revenue, he said.

“It will provide us with a tremendous cost savings and time savings for our law enforcement officers,” said Scutari, a municipal prosecutor. “It’ll save our citizens from the unnecessary multiple court appearance and criminal record and it’ll provide us with much needed tax revenue.”

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I’m against the taxing part of it.  The government already gets way too much money to do the tasks that it’s legitimately supposed to do.  And if the tax on pot is too high it will encourage smuggling and a black market much like we see with cigarettes.

You know I happen to know first hand (from a long time ago) that pot does not make people fight, curse loudly, pee in people’s yards or vomit in their driveways.  You never hear about anyone smoking pot and then disturbing the peace.  Maybe what we should do is allow D’Jais to enjoy the use of their property in the winter months by allowing it to operate as a cannabis cafe.  I guarantee whatever revenue they lose by not selling liquor would be more than made up for by sales from the snack bar!