New Jersey Prosecutors in Favor of Legalizing Marijuana [POLL]

The argument to legalize possession of marijuana has a new and unlikely ally: The New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association.

The list of supporters already includes Assemblymen Reed Gusciora, and Michael Patrick Carroll. Gusciora is a Democrat representing Hunterdon and Mercer counties, who also is municipal prosecutor in Lawrence Township. Carroll is a Republican representing Morris and Somerset counties. They’ve sponsored a bill calling for a referendum asking voters to legalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.

Senator Nickolas Scutari also introduced a bill that would legalize the cultivation, sale and possession of marijuana. He set up an agency to oversee the industry, and then funnel the sales tax revenue to the state Transportation Trust Fund, drug prevention and enforcement efforts and women’s health programs.

Everyday the list of supporters grows like a weed - so when will we be able to grow this weed? There’s still one more person that needs to be convinced, and Governor Christie does not appear likely to sign off on it. Legalizing marijuana is clearly what the people want. A Gallop poll in October found that 58 % were in favor of it. It’s already legal in Colorado and Washington and both states are seeing the increase in revenues. In Colorado, new budget numbers predicted that those marijuana taxes could add more than $100 million a year to state coffers, far more than earlier estimates.

Don’t we deserve that in New Jersey? Instead of taxing the hell out of our property, small businesses, gasoline, and whatever else they can think of, why not tax the one thing that no one will complain about? It’s 2014, we’ve legalized gay marriage, and now it’s time to legalize marijuana.

What do you think?