How to save Atlantic City and more: 3 things you learned with Bill Spadea

Thursday's show was about finding solutions to common New Jersey problems — from saving Atlantic City to selling medical marijuana over the counter to teaching drivers how to cope with distractions. The show was definitely robust.

What's the solution to fixing Atlantic City?

The state legislature has competing ideas on how to fix Atlantic City — which is on the verge of running out of money — yet still no solution. As Mayor Don Guardian told me a few weeks ago when I was in town, the municipality has made major cuts requested by the state — its police budget alone has been cut by 20 percent. But the state didn't make good on its own promises. Assembly Leader Vincent Prieto's resisted a state takeover championed by state Senate President Steve Sweeney (and Gov. Chris Christie) — Prieto doesn't want the state getting AC out of contracts negotiated already with workers — but I think he's doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.

There is no question that something needs to be done! Major changes need to be made. Here are some ideas for Atlantic City:

1. Change the gaming laws. Get rid of this idea that you need a 300- to 500-room hotel to have a gambling operation. Let smaller operations flourish, and bring in revenue. And that leads right into my second idea ...
2. Address the real issue: Allow a free market for job creation that will allow the markets to explode.

How about medical marijuana over the counter at drug store?

We need to slowly begin legalizing medical marijuana in order to stop the epidemic the Garden State faces. Both sides of the argument depict a very different view of medical marijuana. On one side, medical marijuana causes far less harm than pain killers and treats seizures effectively. On the contrary, you have addictive property of marijuana, as a “gateway drug.”

Let’s get away from the idea that medical marijuana should be criminalized. But should recreational marijuana be legal in New Jersey? Cast your vote on the poll below:

Distracted driver training

The entire system for putting new drivers on the road is broken. Distractions need to be a part of the test. We need to get into the new way of teaching driving. It is time to distract drivers more.

Let’s make sure we train these new drivers in real-life situations. I think it's time distracted driving is added to driver’s education. Our entire society is risk averse. Do you think drivers needs distracted driver training?