By Baruch Rivlin. Last Monday, a New Jersey Senate committee approved bill S-2703 which would legalize the possession and use of marijuana adults 21 and over. The bill, sponsored by Senator Nicholas Scutari and Senate president Steve Sweeney, has support from Governor Phil Murphy, who sees marijuana legalization as being a social justice issue.
Legalizing marijuana in New Jersey, although controversial and not without inherent risks, is a positive step in the right direction. There are multiple reasons we should all be thankful for Democrats pushing this agenda item towards passage, but I will only focus on one.
My reasoning to support marijuana legalization is related to our civil rights. The Constitution demands that everyone in the nation, regardless of color, creed, race, or religion, be treated with equal amounts of respect and judicial fairness. Because the Constitution stipulates this, minorities have for over a century found refuge within America’s borders. When Jews were being killed by the thousands in pogroms sweeping Europe, Jews residing in America found themselves living in relative safety and harmony with their non-Jewish neighbors. The United States of America provided a place of refuge, a place where Jews could practice their religion openly and freely, at times when millions of Jews were being slaughtered by Germany, and tens of thousands oppressed in Soviet Russia, many of them imprisoned in Russian gulags.
So, what does this have to do with marijuana? Well, throughout history, there is a near-direct correlation between the overall civil rights attitude in a country to how Jews in said country are treated. The fact is that laws and actions targeting individuals using or in possession of marijuana have unfairly targeted the black population.
A report showed that an African-American using or in possession of marijuana is 2.8 times more likely to be prosecuted for marijuana possession than a Caucasian, even though the usage rates are similar. An arrest and conviction for marijuana possession, even though it is just a minor transgression, can have a severe impact on one’s family life and career, making it even harder for those arrested to gain upward mobility in life.
African-Americans, unjustly targeted in the war against a comparatively harmless substance, have found themselves on the short end of the civil rights stick. This not only suggests that marijuana laws were enacted with racist intentions in mind, but also reflects more broadly on the overall state of civil rights in America as it pertains to blacks and other minorities, such as Jews.
When laws aimed at harming specific segments of the population are reversed, the targeted community gains, and so does every other individual who is a minority.
We should be grateful for the Democrats’ attempt to decriminalize marijuana use and possession. It is both a Constitutional issue and a civil rights win for many of us.
(TLS welcomes your opinions by sending them to [email protected])
Very sad that the Lakewood scoop feels that to be open minded and consider yourself a website for all, you have to publish articles that are clearly not good for the frum jew!
Truly sad!
please remove this post,ty
You can replace this argument in favor for legalizing marijuana for legislation to legalizing Toeva marriage.
See what I’m getting at? It’s a bad comparison, comparing the legalizing of Marijuana ( which is done only so the govt can receive tax income) to “civil rights laws” heading in a positive direction for Jews.
give us some daas torah to back u up
it’s Chanuka today, not Purim
Sorry I am not buying your facts that blacks are prosecuted more than whites over marijuana. We live in a fairly just society. All liberals live quoting the statistics and they are manipulated constantly to benefit them when needed… if that is the entire arguement to legalize it then it is quite pitiful….
@Dave u took the words right out of my keyboard
ok,granted that discrimination against African Americans exists in regards to marijuana prosecution, but is it rational to simply legalize it because of that. New Jersey is strapped for cash thanx to Governor Murphy”s generous spending habits, the taxes are too high to raise, so this is their last-ditch option to bring in some dough. You also have the recreational marijuana companies and investors lobbying Trenton. It’s not about our personal freedom. Let us not be fooled.
hey, did you eat too many weed donuts?
Not to burst your bubble, but in the states that legalized recreational Marijuana, minority arrests have gone UP. (google it)So much for social justice.
This is a bad idea in every way.
Very twisted logic.
Thanx but no thanx.
Sounds like the ou needs some backing for thier hashgacha.
Hmmmm
Wow. Who knew that eating too many latkes can addle the mind and produce opinions like this??
Well without exposing myself for obvious reasons, I’d like to say that I happen to be a person with Daas Torah and although I agree with your underlying premise, I’m not sure if this is the most prevalent application of this philosophy.
And in general I’d like to mention that whenever I read the comments section on this forum, there appears many nonsensical responses to important discussions proving once again the famous quote of the Mahari Weil ZT’L “Daas Baal habayos hefech Daas Torah” and I think that people should be very careful only to take seriously the opinions of Daas Torah!
Well, my daas torah is much bigger than yours and I say differently to you, and I am entitled to an opinion.
and which daas torah says you can be on internet ????
Cannabis is much safer than alcoholic beverages and tobacco products according to data straight from the Center for Disease Control. Based on that fact alone cannabis should be completely legal!
Sounds like someone has already gotten a head start on the marijuana train.
Keep smokin dude….to equate the legalizing of a gateway drug, a drug that law enforcement has no way to test for(traffic accidents??) and the fact that it’s as unhealthy as tobacco…to equate that to civil rights??!
You gotta be high….
This is crazy. Drugs are drugs! Shouldn’t not be legal.
It lead to many social issues.
Let’s see how thankful you’ll be when your insurance rates get higher (no pun) which is what happened in all the states that legalized Marijuana. Car accidents rates increased and then insurance followed…. Only ones who will gain from this is the dealers
The legalization of marijuana will be the downfall of our Torah community. We are already dealing with drinking and cigarette smoking which can both be deadly. Add on top of that all our bochurim who will be able to easily attain marijuana and we will have an even more dismal picture. Whoever tells you the marijuana does not have a mind altering effect is lying. I personally have seen how disoriented young people can be who have taken it upon themselves to smoke frequently to relieve their depression. And do not tell me that it is better than buying illegal stuff. There will be plenty of “illegal bargains” available. Hashem should have ruchmanus on us and bring the Geulah very quickly.
There is a teshuva from R Moshe about marijuana.
The reason that marijuana is prosecuted more than other drugs is because African American lawmakers so what was happening in their community and pushed for stricter laws against it.
The CDC is not the NHTSA. Get my drift.
FAKE NEWS!!!
Don’t get me wrong I’m all for making it legal but lets not confuse it with the facts
Simply factually incorrect check up the real statistics.
the truth is percentage wise there are more African Americans getting caught with it but the incarceration rate percentage wise isn’t higher and also true is that there are more Caucasians being incarcerated than African Americans for cocaine simply because there are more percentage using it so why mislead the public.
If African Americans are found to be breaking the law & smoking weed, is that a reason to remove the law? We should be prosecuting other races equally but why is legalization pro civil rights?
What do think happens after your high on drugs? You break another law! Are we going to remove all laws to keep certain groups out of jail? This is a slippery sloap.
Marijuana does not kill brain cells with adult use!! No one ever overdosed and died from marijuana!! Marijuana is so much safer then alcohol and tobacco so please explain to me why is it currently illegal? END PROHIBITION NOW
alcohol you pass out,get sick, have a hangover etc. with marijuana there is no hangover or side affects like you have when drinking alcohol people would be high day & night none stop
Even if your argument was true they can accomplish the same this by decriminalizing it. They don’t need to make it legal with stores popping up everywhere it’s clearly a money grab and bad for us overall. They Silver lining you say does not justify the means
Thank you for a very well written statement. FWIW I appreciate you bringing up some of Anslinger’s tired old chestnuts about MJ use, but perhaps you should have referred to him directly. It seems that many of the folks opposed to legalization are parroting 80 year old opinions.
The slow and sad downfall of America. Whatever you want to say about weed, it makes you dumber and less productive. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at anyone that smokes.