Pubdate: Tue, 10 May 2016
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Copyright: 2016 The Trentonian
Contact:  http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: L.A. Parker

TOO MUCH ATTENTION PAID TO TOKING, NOT ENOUGH TO EDUCATION

A marijuana legalization supporting friend frequently delivers this insight.

"It's a plant, L.A. People should not be arrested for smoking a 
plant," she says.

Her potted observations includes the same allowance for Cannabis oil, 
butter, gummy bears, coffee, etc. Her observation attracts a certain 
appreciation except for the fact that smoking such plant remains a 
violation of New Jersey law.

Now, if people want to smoke that plant in public or sell such green 
produce behind the guise of religious temples and fruit smoothies 
store frontage, then that's the chance they take.

All those people who followed a popular marijuana smoker down that 
rabbit hole and ended up in jail or were released under their own 
recognizance, then that decision ends up on your side of the ledger.

Meanwhile, that same guy who professed world-wide weed use jettisoned 
from behind bars with money and attorneys waiting to defend his every 
civil liberty.

Trenton remains filled with irrational thinkers who decry government 
when they close an alleged marijuana joint or sanctuary but light up 
and do nothing when that same government shuts down four public libraries.

Political leaders express a desire to hire more police and law 
enforcement officers, but layoff educators by the hundreds as city 
residents shout "Oh, yes, Mr. Big Brother. Give us more police to 
protect us from our wayward children and from ourselves because we're 
uneducated and our libraries are shuttered."

This vicious circle cultivates calamity as marijuana smokers fail to 
understand that they will not receive employment opportunities as 
their drug screenings show elevated levels of THC.

Plus, plant smokers, especially those who challenge the rules with 
public displays of toking, run the risk of police altercation.

A personal law demands giving police no reason to pull over my 
vehicle or engage me in any way. I'm just saying. Actually, wiser 
marijuana users who engage in recreational use rarely draw attention 
to themselves.

Police friends admit that they rarely raid homes based on the mild 
aroma of marijuana wafting from a backyard.

People who really want an occasional high without the law enforcement 
threat have options of edibles and baked goods.

Medical edible Kush Cake Pops are all the rage with cannabis users.

If marijuana smokers search for the high without law enforcement 
intervention, then why not just eat your way to outer limits.

No doubt, the rolling process and weed aroma play a factor in 
ritualistic marijuana use but smart people enjoy their opportunities 
without attracting attention.

Laughter accompanied reports of the police raid of the downtown temple.

First, that many police officers, weapons and power for about a dozen 
fish and grits customers?

That police siege looked more like the Raid on Entebbe or pushback 
against Branch Davidians.

Hilarity ensued as police arrested 13 people, two on drug charges and 
11 others for outstanding warrants.

Approximately, 84,000 people live in Trenton and more than half have 
warrants for unpaid parking tickets or other violations.

While a personal belief concurs with a decriminalization or 
legalization of marijuana use, educated people lay low unless they 
have the wherewithal to pay fines, spend time in prison and remain 
unemployed for extended periods of time.

Gov. Chris Christie promises no support for marijuana legalization 
which means no significant movement on this issue.

However, even marijuana legalization will not erase arrests for illegal use.

Marijuana users should employ caution and common sense or face the consequences.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom