Only New Jersey Could Corrupt Marijuana More
New Jersey’s progressive ‘equity’ politics have botched what could have been a large windfall for the state
With the laws laid, New Jersey is marching forward with the rollout of its legal marijuana industry. Already, corner stores throughout the state have begun stocking up on paraphernalia, commissions have been formed, and any attempt at reasonable enforcement has been cast aside.
Many may not know about that last part. But as legal weed is on its way to the lungs, and sometimes digestive tracts, of eager Garden State residents, it is worth looking at all the different ways Murphy and state Democrats have botched the rollout of this voter-mandated desire.
First, there is a good argument to be made for the legalization movement besides just the medicinal industry, which has existed for some years already. But these arguments are not fit rebuttals for the equity politics being championed by Democrats.
This, of course, perverts the reasons why the voters supported the decriminalization of the plant via ballot measure in 2020. Sure, a plurality of them wanted to get high — and, hey, it’s their right now. But the likely reason for the overwhelming support was instead based on the desperately needed infusion of cash the newly created industry would provide the egregiously overtaxed state.
But citizens of New Jersey will have to wait for things like property tax relief. Murphy and his fellow Democrats have instead decided to turn the money raised by the new legal weed industry into political handouts.
When Murphy signed S3454, he dedicated 70% of the tax revenue to a “Social Equity Exercise Fee” that is applied to sales of all forms of cannabis and paraphernalia. All of that money will be directed to municipalities the administration declares are “impact zones” — towns with a population of people who have allegedly been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs. The money will also be given to individuals, though less information is available about what that entails. Organizations such as Black Lives Matter will also get a Democratic payoff.
What would really help black New Jersey residents — all New Jersey residents, really — would be a better path to homeownership, which, due to the nation’s highest property taxes, is prohibitively expensive. Currently, New Jersey leads the pack with a 2.49% effective property tax. This means that the owner of $217,500 (the nation’s median home value) would have to shell over $5,419 come tax season, according to U.S. News & World Report.
[Side Note: U.S. News & World Report attempts to say in its narrative that “red states” boast higher property taxes annually. This argument is immediately undercut because every one of the top 5 states for property taxes is deep blue.]
Of course, this low-balls the actual cost because the analysis does not factor in the plot of land the house sits on. These taxes don’t affect elite progressives, though. Anyone who is anyone amongst the liberal bourgeois has an accountant on standby to work some magic. Just throw some soybeans on your estate, and voila, you are a farm. Another helpful rich white person technique is to pull a Bon Jovi and invest in some honeybees for your land.
None of these are options for black renters living in Camden or Newark. Nor are they viable solutions for the white family in a trailer park or the Hispanic family subletting. But Murphy will cut a check, and the press will declare the end of racism — until they need racism for a narrative again, that is. Never mind that cutting a check has never made a dent in the nation’s poverty level.
This was not how legal weed was marketed to voters. Initially, the money was supposed to help the state’s empty coffers; the money was supposed to go to the treasury and to teach police how to with substance hitting the streets. Instead, taxpayers will be on for promises the Democrats made to teachers or other public sector unions.
Under the bill, a paltry 15% of the revenue will go into the Underage Deterrence and Prevention Account. What does this mean? No one knows for sure. Maybe Murphy will revive D.A.R.E — but due to police hatred among the left, that already poor solution will likely remain unexplored.
But actual solutions to the state’s crippling financial situation are not what Murphy and Democrats are looking for. The only thing they are interested in is woke politics. Murphy said as much during the news release for the bills signing.
“Our current marijuana prohibition laws have failed every test of social justice,” Murphy said at the time. “Which is why for years I’ve strongly supported the legislation of adult-use cannabis.”
Indeed, Murphy was always a proponent of legal. But do you know who wasn’t? Many state legislature members, especially black ones, found Murphy’s ideas unhelpful to the black community. After several false starts that resulted in failure for the administration, the buck was passed to the voters who certainly did not vote yes with this outcome in mind.
Other issues lawmakers had was what to do about high drivers and the drug appealing to children. On those topics, the administration aimed for woke as well.
The bills signed by Murphy have essentially made it so that the state government decides what to do about children using drugs alcohol. Police are to permit children to use substances and forbidden from being narcs and telling their parents. This was brought to residents’ attention in one Atlantic County town shortly after the bills were signed.
According to a Facebook post from the Egg Harbor Township Police Department:
“The new laws prohibit law enforcement officers from engaging certain actions when investigations on individuals under the age of 21 [including minors under the age of 18] for possession of marijuana, hashish, cannabis, or alcohol. Importantly, officers who violate these provisions may be charged criminally with depriving the individual of their rights.”
Under the bill, the new rules for possession for anyone under the age of 21 in any public place, including school, are as follows (the emphasis is mine in this case):
For a first offense: “Officers shall issue a written warning, which must include the person’s name, address, and date of birth, but the warning shall not be provided to the individual’s parent or guardian.” (The emphasis is that of Egg Harbor Township police, where this quoted from)
Second offense: “Officers shall issue a written warning and also, provide the person with informational materials on community drug treatment services. For individuals under the age of 18, the officer shall provide the individual’s parent or guardian with copies of the warnings issued for both the first and second offenses.”
Third or subsequent offense: “Officers shall issue a written warning and again provide the individual with information on community drug treatment services. If the individual is between 18 and 21, then the officers shall provide notice of the written warning to the community drug treatment program; if the individual is under 18, then the officer shall again provide the juvenile’s parents or guardian with a copy of the warning.”
It is surprising that, under the bill’s language, the police can still confiscate the drugs or alcohol — one would imagine Murphy would consider such a financial setback racist. Irrespective of being allowed to seize the product, the state believes that informing a minor’s parents of his illicit activities should be illegal. This is the first of what will likely be many steps that a progressive administration will take to raise your children as they deem appropriate.
So much for stopping intoxicated driving, also. The bill now makes it so that the smell of marijuana or even the presence of a burned joint is no longer probable cause to search drivers of an automobile — open container laws be damned.
Residents of the state have nothing to gain from legal weed — certainly not anything that most people likely hoped to get from it. Murphy and the Democrats are looking to send a woke message at the cost of helping everyone in the state live a more affordable life. Maybe they are hoping people will be too high to notice. But instead of issuing in some new utopia of racial equity, this progressive agenda instead reads as “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”