A helpful reader alerted me to this notable article from the Asbury Park Press, headlined “It’s high time to legalize pot, N.J. prosecutors say.” Here is how it starts:
Proponents of legalizing marijuana in New Jersey received a boost from an unlikely source — the very people who prosecute pot users. The New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association in Hamilton, N.J., has come out in favor of legalizing possession of marijuana. The support of the prosecutors association comes as two bills were introduced this month in the New Jersey State Legislature and as polls show a majority of Americans favor legalization.
One of the bills, introduced March 10, calls for a referendum asking voters to legalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. Assemblymen Reed Gusciora, a Democrat from Trenton, N.J., who also is municipal prosecutor in Lawrence Township, N.J., and Michael Patrick Carroll, a Republican from Morris Township, N.J., are its sponsors.
“If it were up to me, I would make all quantities legal,” Carroll said. “Why should the government be in the business of criminalizing marijuana? All it does is create administrative Al Capones and puts the power in the hands of gangsters.” From the government’s perspective, Carroll said legalizing marijuana would be a huge benefit. Government could save money by hiring fewer police and parole officers. Carroll also noted that getting an arrest record has ruined many people’s careers.
On March 24, Sen. Nicholas Scutari, a Democrat from Linden, N.J., who also is municipal prosecutor there, introduced another bill. Scutari’s bill does not call for a referendum. Instead it would legalize the cultivation, sale and possession of marijuana; set up an agency to oversee the industry; and then funnel the sales tax revenue to the state Transportation Trust Fund, drug prevention and enforcement efforts and women’s health programs….
The board of trustees of the municipal prosecutors association voted Feb. 21 to endorse legalization, said its president, Jon-Henry Barr, who is municipal prosecutor in Kenilworth and Clark Township, N.J. “The board was not unanimous, but a clear majority of municipal prosecutors favor the idea,” Barr said.
Of the 10 members of the board of trustees, seven were in favor of legalization, Barr said. Two members were opposed to legalization, and one member of the board abstained from voting, Barr said. He said the association is made up of 150 prosecutors. Among the reasons the municipal prosecutors favor legalization is the damage a prosecution for marijuana possession has on a person’s reputation and the growing acceptance among Americans that marijuana should not be criminalized, Barr said….
“The time has come to understand that this particular offense makes about as much sense as prohibition of alcohol did,” Barr said. “It is time to stop the insanity.” Barr said prosecutors are spending time prosecuting marijuana cases when they could be attacking more pressing problems.
Some municipal prosecutors were unaware of the association’s position on marijuana, and not all agree with it. “I was not at the meeting,” Municipal Prosecutor Bonnie Peterson said. She is prosecutor in Seaside Park, Ship Bottom and Harvey Cedars, three communities on the Jersey Shore. “They sent an e-mail. I was surprised. … I would find it very hard to believe the municipal prosecutors association would come out with a blanket endorsement of legalization of marijuana.”… Steve Rubin, prosecutor in Long Branch and West Long Branch, N.J., was one of the municipal prosecutors association’s board of trustees who voted to endorse legalization. Still, he said he has some concerns, especially during a transition to legalization. He said he fears some marijuana trade would remain in the hands of criminals. “There still are people who are bookmakers,” Rubin said. “We thought they would have been eliminated with OTB (off-track betting) and the lottery.”
But Rubin said legalization would eliminate many of the court cases he has to present. “I would no longer have to prosecute a bunch of 18-year-olds who went to a frat party,” Rubin said.
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New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association endorses marijuana legalization
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