Pubdate: Sat, 29 Aug 2015 Source: Trentonian, The (NJ) Column: Passing the Joint Copyright: 2015 The Trentonian Contact: http://www.trentonian.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006 Author: Edward Forchion, NJWeedman.com For The Trentonian CITY COUNCIL NEEDS TO SMOKE A JOINT Last Thursday I put out my joint, stepped out the door of my Joint, and crossed the street to pay a formal visit to City Hall. After meeting the City Council members I realized I shouldn't have put that joint out - I should've brought it with me and passed it to them. First impressions are lasting, and mine will always be how tense the Council members were. I remember thinking, they should keep calm and smoke weed. The City Council meets every other Thursday, so I took a petition full of citizen signatures and a group of medical marijuana patients and Joint staff with me to 1. introduce myself; and 2. ask the Council to consider an "initiative" that would put Trenton at the forefront of NJ marijuana law reform, alongside Asbury Park, which recently came out of the cannabis closet as a town thanks to the efforts of marijuana activists within the Libertarian Party. The AP City Council even passed a resolution calling on Governor Christie and the State Legislature to tax and regulate! The petition and proposal I was armed with is a variation of the initiative that was presented in Asbury Park that I'd repurposed specifically for Trenton (per state statute N.J.S.A. 40:69A184). Before reaching Council Chambers our group bumped into the Mayor in the parking lot, as well as his Deputy Mayor Andrew Bobbitt on the way in. Upon hearing my intentions, Deputy Mayor Bobbitt asked if I was there to "poke the bear," but I assured him the real purpose of my visit was actually to offer peace. I was going to formally introduce myself and my business to Council members as well as deliver a petition asking them to lower the priority of marijuana arrests in Trenton - by adding Section 420 to the city code. And this isn't just for me, though I did let them know now that I'm in Trenton this issue - this initiative - is very personal to me. But it also hits home for countless people in Trenton, in New Jersey, and across America: Getting busted is the most harmful "side effect" of marijuana use. It's a big LIE that causes a black mark against anyone's record, but the futures that are most jeopardized are those of the people who have the deck most stacked against them in the first place: underprivileged youth of color. But back to the point of this JOINT: It was good to come out and attend the meeting, and I might do it regularly. After all, I consider Trenton my city now, I have a lot of love for it and its people so I ought to know what's going on. But I was in for quite a shock, because it wasn't just business as usual. Before we reached the "public comment" portion of the meeting - when I'd get to address the Council - there was a matter on the agenda that fully consumed the Council's attention. At first I didn't realize what was going on - I thought I was just high. But soon it became clear that there was a significant disagreement between Council members over a text message that accidentally got sent out to unintended recipients. The outbreak of anger began with talk about the renewal of an IT contract. Tension ran high as tempers flared. I just watched it all snowball and thought: Man, these people could really stand to smoke a joint! In fact, I think it's possible all City Councils should do so together from time to time. It's conducive to social cohesion and helps us be more calm and understanding, coming at a problem in a creative and collaborative way. It's why we Stoners are so good at "thinking outside the bun." When that part of the meeting concluded (little did we know it would later flare up again), it was time to speak. I began by greeting the Council and introducing myself, saying I'd just recently joined the Downtown Trenton business community and relating that I was very pleased to have done so after years of being in and around Trenton during the course of my activism and legal battles. I elucidated the nature of my business, which is a restaurant on one side and a Sanctuary, what I referred to as a temple, on the other where the congregation smokes sacramental Ganja. The blunt admission of cannabis consumption across the street from City Hall isn't something you'd expect to hear at a normal City Council meeting, but as I mentioned, this was no ordinary meeting! Nonetheless, the main purpose of my visit was to present an "Initiative and Referendum petition" to the City Council members asking them to add a newly created Section 420 to the municipal code of Trenton by adopting an ordinance that would lower the priority of marijuana arrests in the city. Big ups to the first Council member to ask a question after I concluded my remarks, Marge Caldwell-Wilson, who indicated she was amenable to the possibility of reducing the sting of criminal penalties for young people. Councilman Alex Bethea followed up by asking me about the conditions that qualify a person to use marijuana medicinally, and during my response I also talked about my own issue of bone cancer, which I admitted is recurring now. The major symptom of my large-cell tumors is pain, but I refuse to take opiate painkillers - instead I medicate holistically with cannabis. I also refuse to be a part of the state's program. I informed the Council that not all medical marijuana users are card-carrying members of the state's medical marijuana program because it is prohibitively expensive and notoriously difficult to access - a sentiment echoed by Lefty Grimes, a medical card holder and patients' rights advocate who detailed some of the harrowing experiences well-known medical marijuana patients have had in New Jersey. He is among the steadfast individuals who come out to the medical marijuana protest at the State House every Thursday from 12 to 2 p.m. The Joint's General Manager, Phil Charles, rounded out the speakers by citing statistics about the high number of homicides in the city and asserting that Trenton has great potential with regard to arts and music culture and that my establishment is a positive step in that direction, as is calling for the removal of marijuana from the black market and thereby diminishing the harms to society that the marijuana laws create. As I mentioned, the proposal was a variation on a similar presentation created by the Libertarian Party for the Asbury Park City Council that convinced them to declare support for cannabis legalization. Proposals will soon be presented to the municipal governments of New Brunswick and Camden. All this is taking place on the heels of the success achieved in Philadelphia, which decriminalized cannabis in 2014 thanks to a dedicated group of marijuana activists there. After we left, the Council came close to fisticuffs: Councilman Muschal and Council President Chester nearly came to blows and had to be restrained. So really, chill out, elected officials - next time you're feeling a little rambunctious, come across the street and I'll pass you a joint over at NJWeedman's Joint. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom