Weed-Smoking Santa Video Inspires Outrage, Laughs In Belleville

BELLEVILLE, NJ — “Even Santa gets the munchies.” Did that make you laugh? Then you’re the target audience of an Essex County fast food shop’s controversial new video ad, which follows a costumed Santa Claus as he gives out bags of weed in the “hood” and smokes a blunt with Rudolph the Reindeer.

The Facebook video, put out by the Fat House restaurant in Belleville, has gathered thousands of views since debuting on Friday. During the minute-long spot - titled “Santa In The Hood” – Old Saint Nick travels around an urban area with a bag full of “trees”, a slang term for marijuana.

Santa hands out several bags of weed to local residents – all of them African-American – then lights up a cannabis-filled cigar with a costumed reindeer. “The only problem we get with lighting up so many trees is getting the munchies,” Santa declares.

He then launches into a promo for Fat House’s sandwiches.

• See related article: Hoboken Sees Boozing, Brawling, Urinating Santa Invasion

The shop’s owner, life-long Belleville resident Elven Espinar, told NorthJersey.com that he was just trying to do a little playful video for his customers. He said all the “marijuana” in the video was fake.

“It might offend people, but that’s not my intention,” Espinar said. “I’m not promoting drugs or anything like that. I’m just promoting my store.”

• See related article: Montclair Shop's 'Cow Butt' Logo Is Making People Freak Out

Internet commenters offered split opinions about the video ad. Many said that they weren’t offended and got a laugh:

• “I don't know why people are flipping out. The food they sell is what kills people, not marijuana.”
• “People keep saying its illegal... Does anyone know if those fine actors have a New Jersey medical marijuana card?”
• “But beer commercials during the super bowl are OK… lol.”
• “That is hilarious! I'm guessing the people offended by this weren't going to be your customers anyway, so rock on.”
• “I never cared to stop in this place and I don't ever get the munchies but I will stop in to show my support now since I'm sick of people ‘being offended’ and acting so self-righteous.”

But detractors said that the video ad promotes the use of a substance that is still illegal in New Jersey. “You do not advertise your business promoting illegal drug use!” a commenter emphasized. “It's just that simple.”

Others said the ad was offensive because it’s racist.

“Racial stereotypes… really?” another commenter wrote. “Fat chance I will ever buy from Fat House again.”

LEGAL MARIJUANA IN NEW JERSEY?

Governor-Elect Phil Murphy, who takes over for the infamously anti-marijuana Chris Christie on Jan. 16, has pledged to help fast-track legalized pot in New Jersey. The proposed legislation that many pundits are calling the odds-on favorite to make it to Murphy’s desk, a bill from State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), would allow adults to possess a small amount of cannabis for personal use and pave the way for recreational sales at licensed facilities.

• See related article: New Jersey Senator's Marijuana Legalization Bill Would Tax, Regulate Weed

The battle to legalize recreational marijuana is also taking place on the federal legislative stage, where U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) has introduced a bill that he says will "remedy many of the failures of the War on Drugs.”

• See related article: US Marijuana Legalization Bill Would End 'War On Weed'

According to a September poll from Quinnipiac University, 59 percent of Garden State voters support legalizing small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

A recent study from the ACLU-New Jersey claims that marijuana prohibition has created a “civil rights crisis” in the state, with black New Jerseyans being arrested at a rate three-times higher than whites between 2000 and 2013.

• See related article: NJ Marijuana Arrests Are Criminalizing Black Residents, Study Says

"As a prosecutor for more than 16 years, I have seen what the war on marijuana looks like up close: wasted resources and wasted potential," said JH Barr, municipal prosecutor of Clark, and former president and current secretary of the New Jersey State Municipal Prosecutors Association. "Every time someone in my town court gets arrested and taken into custody for marijuana possession, I see a lost opportunity to confront real public safety threats because law enforcement is occupied with punishing people needlessly. It's time to legalize marijuana for adults in New Jersey."

• See related article: New Jersey Marijuana Patients Offer Human Side To Weed Debate

However, there are also many politicians and residents calling for caution as the drive to legalize weed heats up in New Jersey.

In November, Sen. Ronald Rice, a veteran Democrat who represents the 28th District, said that the state needs to "slow down the process" of legalizing marijuana and "drill down on the facts."

"We know there are negative factors that we will need to safeguard against, from children's access to marijuana-infused edibles to motor vehicle accidents caused by impaired driving to the effect of marijuana on babies and the impact of legalization on communities of color," Rice said.

• See related article: New Jersey Senator Has Worries About Legalizing Marijuana

"We are in the midst of the public health crisis on opiates," Chris Christie said during a forum on substance abuse in Princeton last May. "It's not time for us to be cool and say, 'pot is OK'…This is nothing more than crazy liberals who want to say 'Everything's OK, people should be able to choose.'"

Christie inferred that while marijuana legalization may be embraced in the state's urban centers, it will be rejected in its wealthy suburbs.

"People aren't going to scream when the first head shop opens in Newark or Paterson or Camden or Trenton," Christie said, eliciting a chuckle from his audience. "But man, I can't wait for the first one to open in Short Hills."

Despite the divide between cannabis supporters and opponents, the marijuana industry in New Jersey - and the accompanying retail market that follows – may be here to stay before the first legal joint ever gets lit.

On Dec. 19, the Point Pleasant Beach Borough Council adopted an ordinance that bans medicinal or recreational marijuana sales or distribution within the town. Businesses selling medicinal and recreational marijuana require special security concerns, and will be considered "prohibited uses," the local law states.

• See related article: Point Beach Council Adopts No Pot Ordinance

Earlier this month, South Orange Village President Sheena Collum announced that an unnamed “retail distributor” reached out to her to ask about the possibility of opening a retail marijuana store in the township.

“As you probably know, recreational marijuana is likely going to become legal in New Jersey under our new administration,” Collum wrote. “The control we have at the local level will be through our zoning laws and whether we allow this to be a ‘permitted use’ of commercial property in our town.”

• See related article: Essex County Town May Be Pondering A Retail Marijuana Store
• See related article: Legal Marijuana Could Bring New Jersey $1B In 1st Year, Law Firm Says

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