New Jersey Harshes the Legal Marijuana Mellow

The road to recreational marijuana legalization was closed for repairs in New Jersey yesterday, when a wide-ranging bill that would have both legalized weed and made it easier to expunge old convictions was withdrawn because it lacked the votes to pass.

Lex Wilson at the News Journal tried to assess what it means for a similar push in Delaware, and the signs point in the wrong direction. Not only does Gov. John Carney oppose legalization (he’s already got couchlock so he doesn’t need the stuff), First State lawmakers are bound to hesitate if New Jersey, widely perceived as more liberal than Delaware, couldn’t secure passage.

To add insult to injury, a letter signed by the presidents of medical societies in Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut argues that weneed more research into marijuana before we legalize. Of course, the reason there’s so little research is the government classification of pot as a Schedule I drug, which they acknowledge. But they want to reclassify it to Schedule II, which would keep it illegal but allow clinical research — a boon for the medical research community, certainly, but a move that would push legalization back by years if not decades.

They also raise the specter of Big Tobacco, noting that it hooked generations on tobacco while conveniently ignoring the available evidence that marijuana is less addictive and has not been found to cause lung cancer or heart disease. More research? Sure. But not at the expense of continuing the war on this least harmful of drugs.