Christie Calls N.J. Marijuana Legalization ‘Stupid’

Are you one of the 33 percent of New Jersey residents who reportedly support marijuana legalization in the Garden State? Then your governor may have just called you “stupid.”

Speaking at a forum on substance abuse in Princeton on Monday, Governor Chris Christie took the opportunity to attack the movement to legalize marijuana in New Jersey, railing that the notion was “beyond stupidity.”

"We are in the midst of the public health crisis on opiates," Christie asserted. “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.’”

“Baloney,” Christie added.

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Christie claimed that recent reports have shown children who try marijuana between 12 and 17-years-old are 10 times more likely to be a heroin addict by the time they turn 24. The statistic runs counter to data offered by multiple pro-marijuana advocacy groups, including the Drug Policy Alliance, which says that “most people who try marijuana never go on to use any other illegal drug.”

The governor also turned up his nose at the projected $300 million that some cannabis legalization supporters have said will benefit New Jersey if recreational weed is legalized.

“$300 million is a rounding error,” Christie said, mocking the value of the estimated windfall compared to the state’s $35.5 billion budget. “Think about it, that’s 1 percent, less than 1 percent, of the entire state budget for a year. And we’re going to poison our kids for [that]?”

• See related article: 14 Marijuana Jobs In New Jersey: ‘Cannabusiness’ Grows In The Garden State

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.”

Watch a video from the forum below, via NJ.com.

During his tenure as governor, Christie has been a vocal opponent of legalizing marijuana, at one point describing potential tax revenue from marijuana as “blood money.”

As part of the platform during his presidential run in 2016, Christie vowed to “crack down” on states that have enacted legalized marijuana laws and repeated the rhetoric that marijuana is a “gateway drug.”

However, Christie has also shown at least some willingness to bend to pro-cannabis concerns, such as in September 2016, when he approved PTSD as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana in New Jersey.

• See related article: Chris Christie Signs 3 Bills Into Law, Including Medical Marijuana Legislation

Christie’s anti-pot statements on Tuesday come as the public opinion about legalized marijuana in New Jersey is reportedly swinging in its favor. According to a 2015 Rutgers-Eagleton poll, about a third of the state’s residents “strongly support” making marijuana legal, as opposed to 27 percent who are “strongly opposed” to the concept, mirroring a national trend towards pro-legalization.

Amid changing poll numbers, multiple New Jersey lawmakers have put forth bills that would legalize marijuana in the Garden State.

A still-in-development bill sponsored by Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) - which Christie specifically criticized during his speech – would make the sale and possession of marijuana legal for recreational use.

Another bill from Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris, Somerset), would legalize recreational marijuana and treat it the same way that the state regulates tobacco. Marijuana users with prior criminal convictions for possession, use or being under the influence of marijuana, or “failure to make lawful disposition of marijuana” would be eligible to have their convictions expunged in an “expedited process” via Superior Court.

• See related article: N.J. Marijuana Legalization Bill Would Treat Weed Like Tobacco

Currently, recreational marijuana use and possession is legal in Washington DC and eight states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

• See related article: New Jersey 420 News: The Year In Marijuana

Send feedback to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photo 1: Wikimedia Commons

Photo 2: Flickr Commons