I'm feeling like Crispus Attucks, Nat Turner, and Malcolm X all rolled up into one. Crispus Attucks is considered the first person to be killed in the Revolutionary War; I don't want to be the first to fall, but I too demand to be on the front lines. Nat Turner took it upon himself to organize a slave revolt; I myself am now calling for a Reefer Revolution. Malcolm X said "by any means necessary"; I think it's necessary to use jury nullification as a means to end the cannabis trials. I feel I'm at a crossroads in life, and all three of these historical figures' ideas are in my THC-enhanced mind.

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I ask and answer this because I'll probably be arrested on Monday October 26 in front of the Ocean County Courthouse for passing out jury nullification awareness literature in defiance of an illegal verbal order issued by Lieutenant Green of the Ocean County Sheriff's Department at the behest of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. I feel no remorse for not complying with this unconstitutional order. So I expect to be jailed; the only question is, for how long? How this came to be: Last week, libertarian activist and Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) member Jim Babb was ordered to leave the public area in front of the Ocean County Courthouse before being threatened with arrest and told he was being investigated for jury tampering for passing out fija.org-jury rights literature. (Please watch this video: http://tinyurl.com/ ocsherriff)

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Here's a prediction: Marijuana will be legal New Jersey in three years. All that needs to happen is for a reasonable human being to assume the governor's throne, as our current fearless leader, Chris Christie, has repeatedly said he'd never allow anyone to legally blaze a joint in the Garden State. As such, he has vowed to never sign a legalization bill.

And there are bills, for the record. Bills that would seek to either decriminalize or fully legalize marijuana are waiting to be heard.

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Can we be optimistic about New Jersey's future if Democratic legislators care more about potential tax revenue than the dangers in legalizing recreational marijuana? This state's drug epidemic is severe enough without further enticing the young, poor and uninformed with a "gateway drug" to heroin addiction.

Yet, in spite of denials, those promoting marijuana for medical use are also encouraging legalization for pleasure. The potential consequences are dire. How can we discourage experimentation or usage by the young if liberal politicians proclaim it legal and safe.

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In response to the Oct. 14 oped, "Sentence doesn't fit crime" by Ken Wolski, this is why I do not respect the justice system. John Peditto, whose trial begins Oct. 20 in Toms River, was growing 17 plants, not a field of marijuana to sell to school students, and he may receive a prison sentence of 31-plus years?

He didn't shoot, beat up, take hostages, bully or harass anyone and we will have taxpayers paying for 31-plus years of jail time. I hope the jury is smarter than the system. Driving Under the Influence violators don't even do that much time, if any.

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America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. President Obama recently said the U.S. has only 5 percent of the world's population, but has 25 percent of the world's prisoners. What is creating this Incarceration Nation is the War on Drugs, nearly half of which is a war on marijuana. More precisely, it is a war on people who use marijuana.

Take, for example, the case of Jon Peditto, whose marijuana trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 20 in Toms River. Peditto was found by law enforcement officers to be growing 17 marijuana plants. For this non-violent crime he faces 31 1/2 years in state prison.

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I'm black, so obviously I support this concept that my life matters too. I also grew up in the suburbs of South Jersey, in a two-parent middle class home, believing that I was equal to my suburban white counterparts. I never thought I'd go to prison, especially not for marijuana.

I officially entered the marijuana legalization movement on November 24, 1997. On that morning I was arrested in Bellmawr, NJ, by the Camden County drug task force for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute when a 40-pound package was delivered by Fed-Ex. Many activists start their activism in handcuffs; I was no different - my activism started in earnest after I was arrested. That cold steel around your wrists for marijuana makes people want to change sh*t.

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Despite Soaring Rates of Addiction, Treatment Remains Hard to Access and Prohibitively Expensive

Ashley Gibbons had been holding it together, or so she told herself. Sure, she had sold off her electronics, stolen money from her mother and slept with guys who gave her money. But it wasn't as if she was an actual prostitute: "I didn't go and find random people. I knew them," she said.

She had tried heroin for the first time at 21, four years ago, and for a long while, it remained an occasional thing. But she needed more and more to get high, and, though she held onto her job, pretty soon everything else was falling apart.

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Court Runs Justice Off Road With Vehicle Search Decision

Generally speaking, when I hear stories about the police gaining more power over the citizens they're sworn to protect and serve, I don't like it. I don't like the idea of police officers having unchecked powers, don't like the idea of living at the mercy of the police, don't like the idea of anything resembling a police state.

But when it comes to the state Supreme Court's recent reversal of itself when it comes to probable cause searches of cars, I've got no problem with it.

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Police can now search a vehicle without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe there is contraband or evidence of a crime as long as the circumstances that led to the probable cause are foreseeable and spontaneous.

In other words, police, who are already in an incredible struggle with society regarding use of force, have just assumed more power.

Legal traffic stops can now morph into police in full violation of a motorist's rights based on an officer being pissed off because a person refuses to kiss his pinkie ring. The Supreme Court ruling reverts back to 2009 law but the national issues between police and community are in much more dire conditions now then six years back.

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The end of the second prohibition era draws near. The disastrous consequences of the misbegotten "War on Drugs," with its focus on marijuana, are now widely recognized. More humane approaches to drug use are being implemented as states ease restrictions.

But not if the bitter-enders prevail - as witness Gov. Chris Christie's struggle with the issue in the most recent GOP debate.

President Nixon declared war on drugs in 1971, placing the counter-culture's favored drug, marijuana, on Schedule I of controlled substances. Since then, countless lives have been ruined, not so much by the drug itself, but by the legal regime that followed.

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I hear the Pentagon ordered Gov. Christie to tell his National Guard commander to lose weight. At first I thought it was an Internet hoax, then I had to take a couple bong rips to stop laughing so hard. Ummm, can you say "Pot, meet the kettle." The late-night TV hosts have had a ball with this one.

I can only take that as a funny scenario. Is it political or intentional? As far as timing goes it was perfect - right in the middle of his presidential campaign. I'm with the "just say no to Christie" pot-smoking crowd.

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Today I walked out of my Joint smoking a joint, and I ran into a billboard on East State Street near City Hall across the street from the Federal Courthouse. (Yeah, I feel in the open air I should have as much right to smoke my joint as the tobacco addict does to smoke his plant.)

I instantly loved this billboard, it was right up my antagonistic alley. Here was a big sign calling the courts corrupt, right at the Fisher Federal Building - that's ballsy. Somebody wanted some attention, and me being a media whore myself - I'm game. So check out this billboard.

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TRENTON - Does marijuana have any connection to religious scriptures and priesthood?

Anne Armstrong, a self-described Originalist Judeo-Christian who hopes to influence Pope Francis and President Barack Obama, says the cannabis flowering plant is indeed mentioned in the original Hebrew language editions of the Bible as a key ingredient in an oil mixture for priests.

In Exodus 30:23, many English-language interpretations of the Bible refer to the herb in question as "sweet-smelling cane," but Armstrong, 55, of Providence, Rhode Island, said the correct Hebrew-to-English translation would be "cannabis" as she chilled Saturday afternoon in the rear courtyard behind NJ Weedman's Joint restaurant off East State Street.

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Last Thursday I put out my joint, stepped out the door of my Joint, and crossed the street to pay a formal visit to City Hall. After meeting the City Council members I realized I shouldn't have put that joint out - I should've brought it with me and passed it to them. First impressions are lasting, and mine will always be how tense the Council members were. I remember thinking, they should keep calm and smoke weed.

The City Council meets every other Thursday, so I took a petition full of citizen signatures and a group of medical marijuana patients and Joint staff with me to 1. introduce myself; and 2. ask the Council to consider an "initiative" that would put Trenton at the forefront of NJ marijuana law reform, alongside Asbury Park, which recently came out of the cannabis closet as a town thanks to the efforts of marijuana activists within the Libertarian Party. The AP City Council even passed a resolution calling on Governor Christie and the State Legislature to tax and regulate!

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I lost my appeal before the NJ Appellate Court. But before I go into that disappointment, in honor of Gov. Christie's presidential run and national prominence I've renamed my "Jive Turkey Burger" "THE CHRISTIE" and added a Twinkie on the side. (http://tinyurl.com/TheChristieBurger)

I am a medical marijuana patient and I'm writing this column from the Philadelphia Veterans Administration hospital where I'm receiving treatment for my painful bone cancer condition. Last year I had my most prominent and painful tumor surgically removed. MRIs and my pain level have confirmed it's back - so technically I'm no longer in remission.

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If Chris Christie becomes president, he said he would enforce the federal marijuana laws.

I'm also guessing he'd make husbands wear fedoras to work, make wives stay in the kitchen, and make sure the two of them gave each other a quick kiss goodnight before they turn into their individual twin beds.

Point being: The clock marches forward, not backward, Chris-o.

Now listen: Christie's view on pot hasn't changed all of a sudden because he's running for president. He's long been opposed to legalizing marijuana, but in recent weeks, he's ramped up the message. Why? Well, he's flailing about in the presidential polls and this is probably a good soundbite to get out there to the GOP base.

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For the last five years Governor Christie has obstructed the real implementation of CUMMA (New Jersey's Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act). Now he looks like a fool on the national stage because of his "Politics of Pot" (which is also the name of my latest book featuring Governor Christie).

Marijuana is going mainstream; CNN has become the Cannabis News Network and Dr. Gupta is its main mouthpiece. The legalization movement has succeeded in advancing in 23 states, including New Jersey, to a medical marijuana program. But some states' have a more effective program than others. Embarrassingly, New Jersey's program is considered a joke among patients because the product is limited to flowers (no tinctures or edibles), there are only three dispensaries serving a state of 8.9 million, and participation in the program is extremely expensive. CUMMA simply doesn't work; sadly, it's a failure.

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I made it to another digit-51. For most of my life I didn't think I'dmake it to 51. If you read my Column last Oct. 14, 2014, "Suicide is not a crazy option," you'd know what I This birthday is drastically different from previous years.

Last year on my silver 50th I was miserable.

I was in a full leg cast recovering from surgery to remove a bone tumor from my right femur; I was depressed, flat broke, unemployed, and had nothing planned.

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In response to the July 2 letter "Monmouth and Ocean County hospitals to pay for Narcan," the partnership between Monmouth and Ocean County law enforcement and local health care systems furnishing police officers with naloxone (Narcan) is commendable.

It is essential that emergency personnel are prepared to respond effectively in opioid overdose emergencies, and the initiative equipping police and EMTs with this life-saving medication is invaluable. Any mention of that program's utility and success, however, also should include a reminder that New Jersey's Overdose Prevention Act encourages anyone who may be in a position to help in an overdose to carry naloxone.

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