Politics

As a decriminalization bill makes its way through the New Jersey state legislature, Governor Chris Christie has said he opposes the legalization of cannabis. “"I am not a fan in general of the idea of legalization of marijuana," he said. But he also tried to sound neutral about the decriminalization bill.

"I'll have to see what the bill looks like if it gets to me," he said at a press conference. "I won't prejudge it."

Governor Christie’s position isn’t surprising since he has hopes of higher political office and doesn’t want to alienate his conservative base. But decriminalization and legalization are becoming increasingly popular, as evidenced by a series of recent polls. There will come a time when marijuana prohibition has no “base.”

Under the decriminalization bill, up to 15 grams of marijuana possession wouldn’t involve jail time, just a fine. The bill has 15 Democrat and 3 Republican sponsors in the legislature and cleared the Assembly Judiciary Committee earlier this week.

An assembly vote on the bill was delayed so that a provision that directed a portion of the fines to drug education programs could be added.

One of the decriminalization bill’s sponsors - Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D) - said, "I am confident that with these amendments we will have a model decriminalization bill that realistically addresses persons charged with possession of marijuana. Unfortunately under current penalties, the punishment does not fit the crime."

Another provision that requires a judge to order a drug evaluation for three-time offenders may seem silly to some, but such are the compromises that are made on a political level to keep progress going.

Of course time will tell whether the bill will make it out of the legislature and to the Governor’s desk. Then it will be up to Chris Christie to decide.

Source: http://www.nj.com

While the mainstream media will be focused on President Obama and Mitt Romney during this Presidential race, it is up to independent media to keep marijuana law reform in the public eye.

The best way to do that will be to tell people about former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, who is the Libertarian Party nominee for President this year.

In the video below he explains his position on marijuana law reform and how it will lead to full drug policy reform, incredible savings of law enforcement resources and jail space.

Marijuana law reform will also lead to an increase of freedom. That’s something that can be measured in arrest statistics to a certain degree, but what can’t be measured is the fear people live under for being labeled criminals when they are clearly doing nothing wrong.

People should be scared of committing real crimes, those that infringe on the rights of another. Police should be worried real criminals, not whether someone has a baggie of marijuana on them.

While Gary Johnson has little chance of winning the Presidency, he can do a lot to raise awareness about marijuana law reform. For that reason alone his candidacy is worthwhile.

It’s no surprise to many that Mitt Romney comes across as seeming a bit out of touch. He’s never really had to suffer in a financial sense and seems totally unaware of how most people live their lives.

So the way he acts in response to a reporter’s question in the video below isn’t much of a surprise, even if it is maddening and makes you want to smack him in the head. He is condescending, dismissive and shows a complete lack of knowledge of this issue of medical marijuana. It’s an issue that’s not important to him but affects millions of people in this country every day.

After the interview was over he did say he thought medical marijuana was a state issue, an interesting admission but one that would never translate into political action if he were President.

Sadly no hope is forthcoming from the federal government on the issue of medicinal marijuana. The only hope patients have is in how much backbone their respective states will have when it comes to resisting federal pressure.

But in the end the feds have the agents and the guns so not much resistance can be put up in the face of raids and aggression.