OT: NJ legal weed vote canceled

[RUJohnny99]

BTW, as the story says, Sweeney doesn't want to put the measure of the November 2019 ballot because he thinks it might hurt Democrats up for re-election to the legislature. He hopes it will pass in November, 2020, which will draw many more voters to the polls because it is a Presidential election.

How does this HURT Democrats? The pigs in Trenton want to wait until 2020 to get voter turnout higher against the bad orange man.

F it. Fire up those ballot boxes and let’s vote on it during the June primaries next month. No influence from the weed lobbyists, Kevin Sabet, law enforcement, or SJWs. No voter registration drives or town halls or debates. Simple yes or no vote on immediately removing the penalties for possession and a second yes or no vote to allow the state to set up a regulated system for the sale and use of cannabis. *If* they are both approved, there will be a gifting economy similar to DC & Vermont until the state figures out how to make money off of it.

 

[RU4Real]

This is New Jersey. The problem is as it has always been. An insufficient number of pockets are being lined, ergo no legislation.

 

[rurichdog]

Might have been the Dems started getting complaints from the public and thought it best to hold off instead of voting on it now and work on getting more public support.

The bigger problem was the large cities wanted more of the share of the tax money because of social justice. There was also a large faction of the Legislature that wanted to expunge records for marijuana offenders of the past who were caught with up to 5 pounds of the stuff...that caused a big "wait a minute" to happen.

 

[vkj91]

Might have been the Dems started getting complaints from the public and thought it best to hold off instead of voting on it now and work on getting more public support.

When have politicians ever done that. They couldn’t get the votes because they couldn’t bribe enough people. Has nothing to do with what the public wants

 

[RUJohnny99]

There was also a large faction of the Legislature that wanted to expunge records for marijuana offenders of the past who were caught with up to 5 pounds of the stuff...that caused a big "wait a minute" to happen.

The problem is, in the rush to "do something" about all these murdering hippies on the jazz cabbage, the NJ legislature kinda f'ed up the laws.

There are two penalties: possession & possession with intent to distribute.
Possession:
under 50 grams (1.8 ounces) is a disorderly persons charge
over 50 grams (over 1.8 ounces) is a fourth degree felony

Possession with Intent to Distribute:
under 1 ounce is a fourth degree felony
between 1 ounce and 5 pounds is a third degree felony
between 5 pounds and 25 pounds is a second degree felony
over 25 pounds is a first degree felony.

So essentially, if you were caught with weed, it was up to the police officer to determine whether it was for yourself or you intended to distribute it. That 1-1.8 ounce area is the grey area, and you are subject to the officer's discretion as to whether you intended to distribute. (as a comparison, the monthly allotment of NJ medical patients is 2 ounces). You can hazard a guess who got the disorderly and who got the felony, but that's a completely other issue.

It would be impossible to legislate that only certain third degree felony possessions were expunged but not other third degree felony possessions. And if you just limit expungement to disorderly person charges, you're excluding 24,000 of the 32,000 annual arrests in NJ.

The way around this is to not have blanket expungement, and let those who were hit with the felony charge apply for expungement, and determine on a case by case basis. The problem with this in other jurisdictions is it's flooded the court system, and the court has to hire more staff to process, or the expungement process will take several years.

It's an easy fix to have disorderlies blanket expunged & felonies over 2 ounces apply to be expunged, but certain factions are distorting that to make it seem like 5 pound El Chapo wannabes will be immediately be released from prison.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

typical NJ.

I wonder how all the suckers who voted for Murphy only for this even though they disagreed with all of his polities feel now?

 

[rurichdog]

typical NJ.

I wonder how all the suckers who voted for Murphy only for this even though they disagreed with all of his polities feel now?

They probably feel bummed but pretty mellow...wake and bake crowd

 

[batts]

The Dems are divided between the Murphy and Sweeney / Norcross camps. Also, the police unions came out against legalization because it may impact on their members job security. Less crimes may result in less police officers.

 

[mildone]

The problem is, in the rush to "do something" about all these murdering hippies on the jazz cabbage, the NJ legislature kinda f'ed up the laws.

There are two penalties: possession & possession with intent to distribute.
Possession:
under 50 grams (1.8 ounces) is a disorderly persons charge
over 50 grams (over 1.8 ounces) is a fourth degree felony

Possession with Intent to Distribute:
under 1 ounce is a fourth degree felony
between 1 ounce and 5 pounds is a third degree felony
between 5 pounds and 25 pounds is a second degree felony
over 25 pounds is a first degree felony.

So essentially, if you were caught with weed, it was up to the police officer to determine whether it was for yourself or you intended to distribute it. That 1-1.8 ounce area is the grey area, and you are subject to the officer's discretion as to whether you intended to distribute. (as a comparison, the monthly allotment of NJ medical patients is 2 ounces). You can hazard a guess who got the disorderly and who got the felony, but that's a completely other issue.

It would be impossible to legislate that only certain third degree felony possessions were expunged but not other third degree felony possessions. And if you just limit expungement to disorderly person charges, you're excluding 24,000 of the 32,000 annual arrests in NJ.

The way around this is to not have blanket expungement, and let those who were hit with the felony charge apply for expungement, and determine on a case by case basis. The problem with this in other jurisdictions is it's flooded the court system, and the court has to hire more staff to process, or the expungement process will take several years.

It's an easy fix to have disorderlies blanket expunged & felonies over 2 ounces apply to be expunged, but certain factions are distorting that to make it seem like 5 pound El Chapo wannabes will be immediately be released from prison.

Very informative post. Thanks.

 

[mdk01]

The Dems are divided between the Murphy and Sweeney / Norcross camps. Also, the police unions came out against legalization because it may impact on their members job security. Less crimes may result in less police officers.

Murphy vs. Sweeney/Norcross is a fair point. But I think the police in the areas where most of the marijuana arrests take place probably have enough other crimes to provide job security.

 

[RUJohnny99]

Murphy vs. Sweeney/Norcross is a fair point. But I think the police in the areas where most of the marijuana arrests take place probably have enough other crimes to provide job security.

From my post on page 6:

Englishtown: population 1,979, 74 cannabis arrests in 2016 (3.7% of population)
Mendham: population 5,846, 171 cannabis arrests in 2016 (2.9% of population)
Flemington: population 4,654, 84 cannabis arrests in 2016 (1.8% of population)

Total non-drug related arrests in 2016 per the Uniform Crime Report:
Englishtown: 45
Mendham: 19
Flemington: 73

It appears the entire purpose of Mendham police is to prevent the flow of cannabis between Chester & Bernardsville. Their twitter is an interesting read and makes that town sound like a drug infested s-hole.
https://twitter.com/mendhampolice?lang=en

 

[batts]

From my post on page 6:


Total non-drug related arrests in 2016 per the Uniform Crime Report:
Englishtown: 45
Mendham: 19
Flemington: 73

It appears the entire purpose of Mendham police is to prevent the flow of cannabis between Chester & Bernardsville. Their twitter is an interesting read and makes that town sound like a drug infested s-hole.
https://twitter.com/mendhampolice?lang=en

Yep. Initially, law enforcement supported the legalization of MJ, but the police unions became involved and are now pushing against legalization for job security reasons. . Police departments in big cities like Newark, Elizabeth, Paterson, Camden, etc are probably in favor of legalization because they have more than they can handle without dealing with casual possession cases. However, in suburbs where police officers can make in excess of $150,000 with overtime, pot possession cases justify increased number of officers. Oh well, business as usual in good old NJ.

 

[Ridge 22]

Murphy is entirely incompetent as a leader and politician This was one of the key issues - if not the key issue - that he campaigned on. He promised to have it implemented within his first 100 days. I guess he meant the first 100 days of Year 4. The fact that Democrats control all 3 branches of the NJ legislature (governors office, senate, and assembly) and he still couldn't align the forces to push through one of his key agenda items that a majority of NJ residents support (close to 2/3 positive support in recent polls) shows just how ineffective he truly is. This is an embarrassing failure for him.

 

[mdk01]

The fact that Democrats control all 3 branches of the NJ legislature (governors office, senate, and assembly)

All 4 branches. You forgot the judiciary.

 

[Shelby65]

Murphy is entirely incompetent as a leader and politician This was one of the key issues - if not the key issue - that he campaigned on. He promised to have it implemented within his first 100 days. I guess he meant the first 100 days of Year 4. The fact that Democrats control all 3 branches of the NJ legislature (governors office, senate, and assembly) and he still couldn't align the forces to push through one of his key agenda items that a majority of NJ residents support (close to 2/3 positive support in recent polls) shows just how ineffective he truly is. This is an embarrassing failure for him.

Incompetence. Promises, promises. Rebuilds take time. Give him 6 years to be bong eligible. Sound familiar ?

 

[Zak57]

Same person keeps bumping necro weed threads. Interesting.

 

[mildone]

Same person keeps bumping necro weed threads. Interesting.

Is a bot. Also, while I didn’t check it, the link might be phishing or malware.

 

[NickRU714]

Is a bot. Also, while I didn’t check it, the link might be phishing or malware.

Or they are an investor/owner of the company

 

[NotInRHouse]

Is a bot. Also, while I didn’t check it, the link might be phishing or malware.

Though you have to love the guy trying to make the weed thread about GS.

Maybe GS could also be linked Turks and Caicos and North East, Maryland? Opportunities for sure.

 

[OldManRiver]

Though you have to love the guy trying to make the weed thread about GS.

Maybe GS could also be linked Turks and Caicos and North East, Maryland? Opportunities for sure.

GS is not?...damn