Pubdate: Sun, 20 May 2012
Source: Record, The (Hackensack, NJ)
Copyright: 2012 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.northjersey.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/44

TIME TO EXHALE

GETTING arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana will no
longer be a crime under a bill now pending in the Legislature. Rather
than facing a $1,000 fine and six months in jail, those with less than
15 grams of marijuana - a little more than half an ounce - would be
fined $150 for their first offense and up to $500 for repeated violations.

This bill is a sensible response to the prevalence of marijuana use in
today's society. An estimated 100 million Americans have smoked
marijuana, and about 25 million have done so in the last year,
according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws. If the bill passes, New Jersey would be following 14 other
states, including New York and Connecticut, which have decriminalized
the possession of small amounts of the drug. The bill has bipartisan
support, which suggests it has a good chance of passing.

But whether Governor Christie will sign the bill is another story. A
spokesman for the governor declined comment. The governor's views on
drugs have been contradictory.

Christie used his State of the State address this year to propose a
series of "drug courts," with the idea of sending minor drug offenders
to treatment centers as opposed to prison. The governor disagrees with
warehousing people in jail when their only crime is using drugs. That
is certainly a liberal view and one that suggests Christie would be
amenable to reducing penalties for minor marijuana offenders.

On the other hand, the governor's administration has stymied New
Jersey's medical marijuana law since arriving in Trenton. The law was
signed by then-Gov. Jon Corzine just before he left office. Christie
may dislike what Corzine did, but that doesn't excuse the fact that
more than two years after the bill was signed, marijuana still is not
available to people who need it. By refusing to use his considerable
power to put this program in place, the governor is catering to those
who think "Reefer Madness," a much lampooned anti-drug film of the
1930s, is an American Medical Association documentary.

What this means for a bill decriminalizing marijuana is hard to say.
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, backs reducing penalties for
those using small amounts of marijuana, but he says he's concentrating
more on getting the medical marijuana program up and running. That's a
prudent approach.

We support decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, but agree with
Scutari that making the drug available to ill people has to be the
priority. 
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