Is the Zonker community inclined to overindulge in the product it champions - namely, marijuana? Seems so. That could explain the yawning gaps in Zonker logic - the apparent burnt spots in the medial temporal lobes from the pothead community's misfiring synapses. The Zonker community takes its name from Zonker Harris, the cannabis-addled character in the Doonesbury comic strip. Talking up marijuana, Zonker's namesakes illogically say that since alcohol is legal, marijuana should be too. Alcohol fuels crime, domestic abuse, deteriorating health, bankruptcy and highway carnage, to name just a few. So, heck, why not legalize marijuana along with it? [continues 1278 words]
Advocates of marijuana legalization might call it "Reefer Madness." New Jersey drug-treatment officials call it simply a fact. There are more than 12,000 state "treatment admissions" annually for marijuana users - a rising number, according to the state's Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. And this at the very time marijuana is winning wide public acceptance as a relatively harmless substance and even legalization. Colorado and Washington State voters have approved "recreational" sales of marijuana. And 19 states including New Jersey, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized medical use of it. [continues 410 words]
The War on Drugs has dragged on longer than the war in Afghanistan and nearly as long as the War on Poverty. And with the same debatable - and costly - results. President Nixon was first to declare war - a "global war," he said. Elvis Presley enlisted as a celebrity volunteer. The King of Rock 'n' Roll himself later succumbed to drugs. With increasing military, law enforcement and prison costs, the war raged on through succeeding presidencies down to this day. In 1982, President Reagan said there would be a "Drug-Free America" by 1995. [continues 328 words]
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Gov. Christie is pushing to provide mandatory substance-abuse treatment to nonviolent offenders as an alternative to prison. It's an effort he speaks of with great passion. "Saving lives - this is what this is about to me," he has said. "Everyone of God's creatures can be redeemed." But meanwhile, according to the state's own estimates, thousands of New Jersey substance-abuse cases outside the criminal justice system are going untreated. One estimate, by the state, puts the New Jersey "treatment gap" at over 30,000 cases. Another, by the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence/New Jersey, puts it at 50,000. [continues 715 words]
Eighteen states, including New Jersey, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for medical use. Two states, Washington and Colorado, have legalized it for recreational use - although "weed" remains illegal under federal law. Meanwhile, across the land, advocates such as New Jersey's "Weedman" advocate for coast-to-coast legalization. Advocates say marijuana's not addictive and studies generally have concluded it's not a "gateway drug" to harder stuff like heroin. But hold on. Even as New Jersey is crafting regulations to accommodate medicinal reefer, the state's Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services lists it as a major problematic drug. [continues 183 words]
