The main reason weed should be legal in NJ

NJ1015.com published a video Monday that shows NJ State Troopers searching a man on the side of the road complete with anal penetration and genital manipulation. Really! On the side on the road! In broad daylight! The video is disturbing and hard to watch.

The troopers are doing their job, but it shouldn't be this way. I don't know if they violated any procedures. A court will decide that. But the video is a clear indication that this kind of search and questioning over a WEED is excessive, ridiculous and way past the point of putting an end to this nonsense. Here we have two trained, armed officers wondering whether some guy with long hair has pot on him. Give me a break! This is nuts. The troopers time could be much better spent doing any number of things to keep us safe from criminals, other than this.

Having raised two boys in this state, neither of whom smoke weed, I know first hand the zeal and fervor with which some cops are possessed with in finding weed on a young person. They smelled weed in one of the cars my son was riding in after they just got McDonald's. Did you ever smell a car after you put a McDonald's bag in it? It smells like fast food for days, yet the FIVE cops that ended up on the scene kept pressing the boys for WEED! They didn't have any. They didn't smoke any. That didn't stop the 45 minute pursuit of the evil substance. None was found and the boys went home. Same in the case in the story above.

All the troopers could get those guys on was a tailgating ticket. They weren't even exhibiting behavior that would indicate they were impaired. These kinds of encounters do not help strained relations between the public and law enforcement. I support law enforcement. They work hard, do a sometimes dangerous job and we need them. We also need to respect them and they need to earn our trust and respect. These kinds of incidents work completely against that.

I don't smoke marijuana and I don't recommend anyone doing any mind altering substance regularly or to excess. It's not good for you. But what's worse for you and society at large is this kind of civil liberties and civil rights abuses in the eagerness to make a pot arrest. This kind of nonsense is the number one reason I've been calling for this horrific law enforcement abuse to end once and for all. The State of New Jersey and the New Jersey State Troopers should be embarrassed and appalled that this goes on and should act immediately to bring this travesty of justice to an end!

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