Not so fast there, sunshine…
A bill to legalize “recreational use” of marijuana was rejected yesterday in the New Jersey legislature, after supporters staged a full-court press for it all weekend (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/nyregion/new-jersey-marijuana.html).
The New York Times article is somewhat murkily written, so I guess they didn’t take a vote: having canvassed the State Senate and found not enough votes to pass the bill, they decided not to vote at all. That’s what I guess The Times means by “scuttle the vote.”
We were treated to an “abrupt unraveling of the campaign,” whatever that means. It seems some black legislators defected at the last minute–daunted, it seems, by what has happened in other states where pot has been legalized. They expressed concern for how to keep marijuana products out of the hands of children (it can’t be done, once you’ve legalized it) and how to keep people from driving while under the influence of marijuana (another thing that can’t be done).
Our idiotic self-styled “progressive” of a governor swears he’ll be back to try again–something about a chicken in every pot–or was it pot in every chicken? Anyway, he says it’s a matter of “justice.” When leftids speak, “justice” means whatever they do or want to do. It certainly doesn’t mean what normal people think it means.
A loon from the ACLU called the legalization of “recreational” marijuana “an urgent civil rights issue of our era.” That can only mean we’ve run out of real civil rights issues and twaddle like this is all that’s left.
Anyway, at least for the time being, my home state has avoided shaming itself with this mischievous legislation. Next on the docket for the Far Left in Trenton is an assisted suicide bill–another consistent feature of the death cult now known as the Democrat Party.
It would be lovely if we could stop that one, too.
US states considering legalization should look to here in Canada. One of the things that got our idiot PM elected was the promise to legalize mj. Keep in mind that medicinal mj was already available (though the government grown weed was of inferior quality, I’ve been told), and it had already been de-criminalized. There was no real reason to legalize it.
When it did get legalized, it came with a raft of regulations and restrictions that actually increased the penalties for using mj, with a long list of fines and, hidden away in the restrictions, ensured that anyone who ever used mj would never be able to get their FAC (gun license), and would lose it if they did. It became a hidden attempt at a gun grab (not a very good one, since legal gun owners are not likely to be toking). There is also reams of red tape and bureaucracy for potential sellers; in the end, it’ll be only already established, big companies that can afford to set up shop to sell mj.
Here in the US, I think there are two motivations pushing the drive to legalize pot. There’s a lot of money to be made; states are learning that they can’t afford to pay the public employee pensions they so light-heartedly created, so they need another large source of tax revenue: they’ll tax pot. And then there’s the Left with its instinct to tear down society so they can rebuild it according to their wishes. First they’ve got to wreck it; then they can rule it.
Oh, yes. I forgot to mention the high taxes on my list!
And yes; tearing down society was also, I’m sure, part of the motivation. The promise got the stoner vote, too. I think it’s the only promise out PM kept. Increases in users makes for a pliable and easily manipulated citizenry.
In the 1970s all my friends became pot-heads. They were boring! But now pot is some ten times stronger than it used to be, and I don’t think it’ll stop with the users merely becoming ten times more boring than they used to be.
Now, it causes psychotic episodes!
Sad thing is, it has real, medicinal benefits. I know many people who have used it, after all else failed. It has resulted in a more pain free life, and a reduction in the need of other medications. I know a security guard who ended his grand mal seizures. Friends with spina bifida, MS and various forms of arthritic who use it to treat pain. Some people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome have found it helpful. All of these people are going to have a harder, not easier, time, because of legalization!
Legalized recreational marijuana changed Colorado into someplace I prefer to avoid. It strikes me as far from benign in effect. I used to dream of returning to my home state, but now; not so much.
The problem for NJ is that it’s now ruled by Democrats, lock, stock, and barrel, and they mean to transform it into a hell-hole.
Bill Bennett, the Drug Czar under the first Pres. Bush, was on Levin’s Fox News Sunday night show recently. He talked about what a wreck Denver, CO is becoming because of legalized marijuana. It is said that each state is to be a laboratory of liberty. Okay, but when the experiment fails, and fails miserably, it is time to try something else. It took 13 years to repeal Prohibition.
Unknowable has already given us the picture on Colorado.
Places I’ve known for many years, and felt safe visiting, are now menacing and uncomfortable. The once idyllic town of Durango, CO is beset with aggressive beggars. “Dispensaries” are everywhere, frequently having taken over the buildings once occupied by productive businesses that had made a positive contribution. It goes on and on.
If you enter the state via a major highway, there’s a good chance that there will be a dispensary at the first exit, much like fireworks stands that are positioned near state lines so that residents of neighboring states can conveniently obtain fireworks which are illegal in their home states.
What broke my heart the most, was seeing a formal Ski Rental Agency, west of Denver, now a pot dispensary, complete with disheveled looking patrons hanging from the porch rails, completely wasted on cannabis. To my sensibilities, this epitomized what had been traded away. A once pristine and well kept building that had done a brisk trade renting skis to people on their way “up the hill” was now involved in something that seems far less beneficial to its customers.
Some years ago, I was SoCal on business and found a motel room in a small town near San Diego which had a good reputation as a pleasant community. It was not to be. There were young men lurking in the parking lot all hours of the night and day, almost certainly selling some illegal substance. There were police and security guards all over and I recall seeing once shadowy presence in the parking lot being arrested, only to return the next day. That was nearly 15 years ago, and the memory is still unsettling; I just never felt safe there.
On my last visit to Denver, I rented a room in a small town outside of the Metro Area, but close enough to be a convenient place to stay, while I visited friends, etc. I had stayed in this town, in fact at that very motel, many times and always felt comfortable and safe, but during my last visit, two years ago, the character of the town and the motel had changed drastically. After one sleepless night with all sorts of noisy activity in the halls, I cancelled my visit and drove home. Other than a few minutes spent visiting an old friend as I drove through, I haven’t been back and have no plans to return for any overnight visits.
This is the town I love with all my heart and the only place I have ever thought of as home. But since the law was changed, the “vibe” has changed along with it and I don’t anticipate things getting better. Perhaps the worst aspect of this is that it may be very difficult, if not impossible, to rein this back in. There’s big money in that cloud of acrid smoke and I don’t think legalized marijuana will go quietly back into the shadows. If they ever succeed in reversing these laws, it will almost certainly involve a Supreme Court decision.
But here’s the irony; marijuana is still totally illegal. The laws against it are Federal laws. Enforce those laws, aldready on the books and the pot party ends. Will it actually happen? I’d say that is very unlikely. I personally do not think this problem will go away until Christ reigns.
Why anyone would expect any good to come of drugs is beyond me. At its very best, pot is silly, boring, and degrading. Its worst is much worse than that, especially now that they’ve made it ten times stronger.
I have to keep saying this: leftism is evil and can only do evil things.
I’ve never taken even on toke, and I’m very glad that I have held to my stand, with regard to this matter. I have had co-workers that used marijuana and have seen the effects this can have on a person. I personally know of a person that wasted his life, but he got high like clockwork.
If there is some medicinal agent in marijuana which can help people, I sincerely think it should be investigated and developed, no differently than Poppy derived substances and Coca Leaf are used therapeutically in legitimate medical practice. There are plenty of medications which come from substances which can be abused, but are also helpful when used properly this having been said, I suspect that most of the interest in medicinal marijuana is simply a pretext for smoking pot and getting wasted.