New Jersey’s new marijuana laws aim to address social injustice
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy just recently signed into law a bill that legalizes the adult use of cannabis. Although this event seems shallow at first glance, there is a large social justice implication that rides upon the passage of the bill. Growing up in New Jersey, the news leading up to this event was right in front of my face, as I like to keep up to date with occurrences going on back home. Initially, I did not have a strong opinion on the legalization of marijuana in New Jersey, however after looking at the potential effects of the act, I do feel somewhat strongly in support of the law, especially when I saw that it could help improve my home state.
Governor Murphy cites that this is a law created based on social justice, as African Americans are four times as likely to be arrested for a marijuana-related offense. Thus, this bill is not for the purpose of marijuana itself, but for social justice and in order to combat oppression largely attributed to race and social status. New Jersey is a diverse state that welcomes all, and seeing this changed is crucial. Additionally, this law will foster a multi-million dollar industry that can help create jobs, including those who potentially have had an unfairly difficult time finding a job due to systemic injustices. Governor Murphy plans to allocate 70% of tax revenues from this new industry to “Impact Zones” of social injustice due to race, discrimination, and poverty.
The time that the government diverts focus away from nonviolent drug crimes, especially related to cannabis, is well overdue. The legalization of marijuana never occurred to me to be intertwined with social justice until somewhat recently. However, after looking into it more and reading up on my home state’s reasons for the legalization, I do see the connection and the importance of this law’s passage. The way to handle these “issues” is not to imprison more people, but to give them opportunities to turn their lives around and potentially help others and their surrounding environment as well. I believe that this law passed by the state of New Jersey is a positive step in that direction of combatting social injustice.