TRENTON - More than 100 people descended upon the New Jersey Statehouse to protest laws they feel are unjust. The laws they're upset with? Marijuana laws. So far despite a medicinal program in the state of New Jersey, the crowd expressed their displeasure by coming together to exchange ideas and, to smoke. For a little more than two-hours various speakers told the crowd about how far they had come, but how much is still left to fight for. While a portion of the attendees were supporting medicinal marijuana, nearly everyone was in support of full legalization of the substance. Distinguished speakers like former Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis spoke of his time as a patrolman. Among issues Lewis encountered on his beat were a large number of domestic disputes, all of which were alcohol fueled, he said. Not one of the thousands of calls were fueled by marijuana, Lewis told the crowd. The former Captain is well known in the ranks of activists. He has spent time among the Occupy movement and more recently headed down to Ferguson, Mo., to protest peacefully. [continues 91 words]
To the Editor: Will there really be a need for a new five-county South Jersey regional jail 10 years from now? The U.S., with only 4.4 percent of the world's total population, has 22 percent of its incarcerated population and over 50 percent of all American prisoners are non-violent offenders. Why are so many people who are not a danger to the community behind bars? The majority of them are victims of the "Drug War" that began under President Richard Nixon and intensified under President Ronald Reagan, and many were arrested only for using marijuana. [continues 89 words]
Do you have a bucket list? My altered ego, "NJWEEDMAN," has a huge list. Topping his list for years has been taking a THC-positive pee on "just say no" Nancy & Ronald Reagan's graves. Checking this off has been held up by Nancy's continued life. Sure, NJWeedman admits that may be distasteful on many levels, but these drug war criminals deserve it. They ramped up President Nixon's racist drug war, putting millions behind bars-especially brown people-and making America the greatest police state on the planet - largely for a plant. America now imprisons more of its citizens than any other nation in the world by far, holding 25 percent of the world's prisoners while having only 5 percent of the world's population. [continues 1058 words]
In the Press' Feb. 19 editorial "Don't make N.J. mecca for stoners," which came out against legalizing marijuana, it's sad to see my hometown newspaper desperately clinging to the wrong side of history. The editorial gives five specious excuses for prohibition. First, we can't legalize cannabis during an opioid epidemic. This is counter-intuitive. Legalizing pot would free up resources to combat opioid abuse. Second is the risk of children inhaling second-hand smoke. I don't know who the writer's babysitter is, but I think most people know to put the drugs, guns and pornography away until the kids leave. [continues 181 words]
I want to opine my two puffs' worth about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming before the Republicans of Congress and dictating to the U.S. what our foreign policy and our treaty negotiations with Iran should be. The Israeli Senate Ambassador aka Senator Lieberman is no longer in the Senate, so Netanyahu had to deliver his orders himself. But first I want to double down on my comments in last week's column "Butthurt." If you remember, I wrote that I was personally butthurt over not being invited to join the New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform (NJUMR), or even to attend the press conference announcing this new Coalition. I said, "In my opinion they started off wrong in the UNITING department because apparently they deliberately excluded some long-time green-collartype activists, the 'radical contingent' of the marijuana movement, and no victims groups or medical groups were invited." [continues 1199 words]
Amid all the uncertainties surrounding the legalization of marijuana in the District of Columbia, a few things are clear. Among them is that Congress has better things to do than meddle in the purely local affairs of the District. When it does interfere, it ends up making a mess of matters. Apparently, however, there are no bounds to the grandstanding of opportunistic politicians on Capitol Hill. That District officials and employees have been threatened with jail, by no less than the chairman of a powerful congressional committee, for their goodfaith efforts to follow a voter mandate is utterly inexcusable. Such a spectacle - and the fact that the District is under congressional attack for undertaking virtually the same steps as its counterparts in Colorado, Washington and, most recently, Alaska - should bring home to the rest of the country the need to redress the historic injustice of the city's limited political powers. [continues 325 words]
Late last Wednesday night I was asked if I was "going to the press conference tomorrow, aren't you part of the new coalition to legalize marijuana?" I said "no" because I didn't know what they were talking about, and I went on Facebook and was shocked to learn of this new group New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform (NJUMR). They held a Press Conference at 11 a.m. on Thursday 2/18. Based on the video I watched, this new group is advocating Legalization in the Garden State and uniting activists. Well, in my opinion they started off wrong in the UNITING department because apparently they deliberately excluded some long-time green-collar-type activists, the "radical contingent" of the marijuana movement and no victims groups or medical groups were invited. Actions speak louder than words. [continues 937 words]
While Opposition Looks Strong, a Coalition Hopes the State Will Be Next to Allow Recreational Sales. This is bigger than Gov. Christie, and even Gov. Christie says the war on drugs has failed. ... I think he would be open to discussion about it. Richard Smith, president of the NAACP New Jersey State Conference A coalition of civil liberties and anti-discrimination groups has joined with prosecutors, police, medical professionals, and political activists to launch a campaign to make New Jersey the next state in the nation to legalize marijuana. [continues 907 words]
NEWARK (AP) - Marijuana should be legalized in New Jersey because existing laws waste police resources, unfairly target minorities and leave millions of dollars in potential tax revenue unrealized by relegating it to the black market, a coalition said Wednesday in announcing a public education initiative. New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform wants to legalize marijuana for people over 21, tax it and regulate its distribution. Among the groups represented at Wednesday's news conference were the American Civil Liberties Union New Jersey, the NAACP State Conference of New Jersey and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. [continues 384 words]
I have a Stalker. I came close to writing about cyber stalkers in this week's column and had planned to write specifically about my stalker. But why promote his bad juju? I met him close to a year ago as part of my marijuana legalization activism. Now I realize he didn't want to know me, he wanted to be me, and he hates me now because he's not me. Last week I was forced to file terroristic threat and harassment charges against him after he repeatedly emailed me and posted these threats on his Facebook account. So I've changed my mind and don't plan on getting him any more notoriety, or stroking his manic delusions of grandeur by doing so. [continues 977 words]
I went to see Selma on Monday, "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day." I smoked two joints on the way and after seeing it, I gave it a 420 on the NJWeedman movie scale. A 500 means it's right on the money, but a 420 is as close as you can get in my THC-enhanced movie evaluations. Other movies that I gave a 420 to were Half Baked, Soul Plane, Friday, How High, and of course Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. [continues 1050 words]
Everyone's talking about America's racial problems without mentioning the armor-plated Humvee in the room. America's drug policy is the leading cause of the animosity between the police and the communities they're charged with protecting. Everyone cheers the police when they arrest a burglar or arsonist, but it's hard to see how institutionalizing locals for weed does anything other than harm a community. The police are not racist, the laws are. From its Jim Crow origins to the racially coded language of Nixon and Reagan to different sentencing for cocaine and crack, the war on drugs is, and has always been, a racist enterprise. [continues 79 words]
In the past year, to my great satisfaction, the NJ family court has taken a beating in both the federal and state appeals courts. In Malhan vs Malhan, five parents filed a class action lawsuit in federal court alleging that the NJ family court system fails to provide adequate "due process" rights to parents in child custody proceedings. Surender Malhan, the father, lost his custody rights on a mere two hours' notice based on a bogus accusation from the mother without him having an opportunity to refute his estranged wife's allegations. [continues 1074 words]
I spent 25 years in the New Jersey State Police, 22 of them as a narcotics officer, and I support legalizing marijuana. I have seen firsthand that marijuana sold on the street can be adulterated with all kinds of additives including opium, PCP and formaldehyde. I have seen street dealers, some as young as 12, selling other drugs along with marijuana. Once, during a street operation in Hoboken, I witnessed a 16 year-old male sell drugs to a 10 year-old girl. Legalizing and regulating marijuana will put street dealers out of business and prevent many of these scenarios in the future. [end]
ANDOVER TOWNSHIP - "Hidden in Plain Sight" is the title of a free drug education summit for parents that the Andover Regional School District will host from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the Long Pond School gymnasium. As the program's name suggests, many of the signs of child and teen substance abuse - unbeknownst to parents - may be right under their noses without their even realizing it. "A lot of people think it's not in my backyard, but I think as educators, we have an obligation to educate parents on what is out there," said Long Pond School Principal Jon Sinclair. [continues 341 words]
Ok new year, new ideas, new pothead thoughts. This is my 24th "Passing the Joint" column and I want to bring something new to it beginning next week. My column is every Thursday, my new idea I want to try out is to be on the streets of Trenton every Thursday, talking to the people of Trenton about my Column that day. I want feed back. Another pothead idea I'll be executing, beginning Thursday Jan. 15 I will be hosting a Cannabis Consumer Chess Tournament 6-10 p.m. [continues 494 words]
Third Way and Anzalone Liszt Group conducted a poll from Sept. 25-29 indicating that 51 percent of people approve of marijuana being legalized. I am of the minority opinion based on three reasons: For certain people with addictive personalities, the use of marijuana can lead to hard drugs like heroin. My late brother started with marijuana and eventually became a heroine addict; Kids today face a "dumbing down" with the processes of creativity and critical thinking because of their attachment to the computer. Studies indicate that the use of marijuana reduces the brain's capacity; When in Vietnam, I had access to marijuana and other drugs and some soldiers used them as a form of escape. I'm fearful that people will use it as a way to function without thinking things through, another form of escape. Joseph Wardy RANDOLPH [end]
2014 was a weird year for me, and good riddance. I started out 2014 in the horrible Burlington County Jail and ended it as the writer of this weekly column for The Trentonian yeah, that's weird! My new year's resolution(s): to eat better and to open a religious temple in Trenton that provides marijuana to its congregants. I hope everyone has a happy new year, but we all know there will be a lot of unhappiness in 2015 as there is every year. Sorry to be a schleprock. My hope is marijuana legalization happens in 2015, but I'm not a dope. It won't, but we are winning the war on the herb. [continues 925 words]
You can read this and say I'm just a dumb stoner and a drug addict, but to be clear I'm far from stupid and I'm not addicted to anything. I don't do drugs; I only smoke "cannabis," which isn't addictive. I've known of the cure for addiction (ibogaine) since July 4, 1998, when I first met Dana Beal of the "cures-not-wars" organization at a legalize marijuana protest in Washington D.C. I admit when I first heard Dana rail on and on about ibogaine I was skeptical. My thoughts were, if there really were a cure for addictions it would be used empathetically across America to save lives. Over the years I learned differently. [continues 927 words]
Inside New Jersey
