By Noelle Skodzinski
I just signed the Petition to tell NJ Governor Chris Christie to keep his "hands off states with legal marijuana. I am a New Jersey resident, but considering Christie is making a run for President in 2016, I think it's essential that he hears from American voters nationwide. In my signature submission, I included the following note, which just scratches the surface of the reasons his stance against marijuana policy reform is ignorant and factually inaccurate. If you would like to sign the petition, you can do so here.
Here's my note to the Governor (with sources added here, as I couldn't hyperlink in the letter):
Gov. Christie,
I've been a fan of many of your actions and policies, but your thoughts and actions regarding marijuana are naïve, contradict the wishes of the majority of American voters and encourage the continuation of a drastically failed war on drugs.
- The U.S. spends more than $51 BILLION annually on the failed war on drugs
- 1.5 MILLION people were arrested in 2013 for NONVIOLENT drug charges
- Of those, nearly 700,000 were marijuana-related arrests, and 88% of those were for possession only!
- How can you justify alcohol being legal, but opposing marijuana so strongly, despite your supporters' wishes—especially medical marijuana, which is being shown to help thousands and thousands of patients, including children and our veterans?
Please do your homework and reconsider your stance on marijuana prohibition. You should know by now that marijuana has been proven not to be a gateway drug, and it IS less harmful than not only cigarettes and alcohol, but it can actually save lives by replacing highly addictive (and dangerous) pharmaceutical painkillers with marijuana (which does not risk overdose). This is a FACT: THERE ARE FEWER PAINKILLER OVERDOSES IN STATES WITH LEGALIZED MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAMS. PERIOD. Will you please read my article on the topic of painkillers (http://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/people-fear-marijuana-20000-people-die-year-pharmaceuticals/), and see if you can still stand by your convictions?
Sincerely,
NJ resident and voter: Noelle Skodzinski
