Assemblyman Reed Gusciora called in this morning to weigh in on two of the week's most pressing topics: weed and property taxes. We ended up finding common ground amid political differences.

Gusciora and I began with a discussion of Jon Peditto, the Toms River man who could face twenty years in prison for running a drug manufacturing center because he grew pot in his basement.

The assemblyman and I agreed that New Jersey needs an alternative to incarcerating nonviolent offenders like Peditto. "The real shame is it costs 50,000 a year to house a prisoner," said Gusciora. "And to send him to prison at this point- a 54 year old man- it's another waste of taxpayers money."

According to Gusciora, Peditto could've "filled a void" in the medical industry for many people by handing in his personally grown strand of marijuana to a state-run dispensary.

Eventually taxes made their way into the conversation, and in a rare instance I found myself agreeing with a politician about how to handle money.

"We need to jump start property taxes because they're too high. It doesn't matter if you cap property taxes- people can't afford them anyway," said Gusciora. "So it's meaningless just to cap them."

Instead of freezing taxes, Gusciora suggested a rollback of New Jersey's current tax rate by 25% for two years, during which time the legislature would have to find an "alternative funding mechanism."

"Hopefully with the legislature doing their job, and an active governor, we can find a solution.... I think we need a sledgehammer and not a tool box," Gusciora said.

What do you think of Gusciora's statements? Let me know by tweeting @nj1015 and @BillSpadea or commenting below.

Bill Spadea is host of the Chasing News TV program. He periodically fills in for NJ 101.5 show hosts, and you can daily hear his opinion about all things New Jersey here, or by tweeting @BillSpadea.

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