Will Chris Christie let New Jersey vote on marijuana laws?
The big news in the world of marijuana this week is undoubtedly New Jersey state Sen. Nicholas Scutari’s full legalization bill, which he introduced Monday.
Want to sell pot? You’d be allowed to. Want to buy pot? Go nuts. Want to smoke pot? Here’s a light.
An ambitious bill, to say the least.
And the only chance it has to become law would be if someone slipped Gov. Chris Christie a tray of THC-laced brownies and stuck a pen in his hand while telling him Bruce Springsteen wanted his autograph.
“Here’s what the advocates want: They want legalization of marijuana in New Jersey. It will not happen on my watch, ever,” Christie said back in December. Not much wriggle room there. Which is why another marijuana bill introduced this week caught my eye. It’s not as farreaching as Scutari’s bill — it would simply make holding less than an ounce of marijuana not a criminal offense. You still couldn’t buy it, couldn’t sell it, couldn’t grow it. But you can have it — read: smoke it — in small quantities.
Furthermore, this bill is designed to put Christie in a tight spot: It’s set up not as a law, but as a referendum. If the bill passed through the Senate it would land it on Christie’s desk. Then he’d be faced with two choices: Veto it, or sign it, and let the people of New Jersey vote on the issue.
The designer of this clever (and maybe a wee bit diabolical) bill?
Trenton’s own state assemblyman, Reed Gusciora.
“Christie has said he’s for public initiatives and referendums. He said so for marriage equality,” Gusciora said. “This would give people a shot at a public vote.”
It’s an interesting gambit. Would Christie take a bipartisan bill passed by the Assembly and Senate (it’s co-sponsored by Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, a Morris County Republican), a bill that simply sets up a public vote on the issue, and deep-six it?
Well, he certainly might, but it would be awfully undemocratic of him. Reeking of Big Brother. And big government. Not exactly what a potential GOP presidential candidate wants floating in his bong water. (To be fair, a potential GOP presidential candidate wouldn’t want “the guy who legalized weed” floating in his bong water either. Tight spot, either way.)
My opinion — which I’ve been screaming about for a few decades — is that pot should be legal. But honestly, that’s not even the moral judgement here. It doesn’t matter if you think marijuana is OK; the moral judgement is whether you think someone’s life should be ruined because of a little bit of doobage.
“Over 90 percent of my drug cases are ‘ joints in the ashtray,’” said Gusciora, who is the prosecutor in Lawrence. “It was the same when I prosecuted in Trenton. Over 90 percent of the drug cases were for marijuana, and 90 percent of those were for personal use. We’re making criminals out of a bunch of kids. The current laws are too harsh, too punitive. Up to six months in jail and $1,000 in fines. And then when these people try to get a job, they’re doing so with a criminal record.”
And all Gusciora is asking for is that we, the people, get a chance to make this decision.
By the way, even if Gusciora’s bill gets through the Senate, and even if Christie signs it, it’s no slam dunk. Far from it, in fact.
A recent Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll showed 41 percent of New Jersey residents are in favor of legalizing small amounts of marijuana for personal use, with 52 percent opposed.
Which, honestly, is probably a good thing for those hoping for a political miracle, as it gives Christie reason to allow it to go to the voting booth. I couldn’t think of a bigger political victory for the governor on this issue. He signs the bill, gives the power to the people, and the people come back and agree with him.
Of course, I’d prefer if the people came around to my way of thinking.
And if Christie doesn’t sign the bill?
“Even if the governor doesn’t sign, these bills will help lay the groundwork,” Gusciora said.
After all, one way or another, Christie’s time under the golden dome will end by 2017. And you can bet the legalization movement will still be around.