Will NJ Pot Shops be Jersey Strong?

Few can refute the fact Chris Christie has made a large impression on his fellow New Jersians, and certainly has broadened his recognition on the national scene as New Jersey’s Republican governor.   To say the least, his directorial début as governor as left a lot of the actors in the NJ Legislature and in some of the state’s most power unions questioning their acts and re-writing their scripts. 

In many ways, Chris Christie could be compared to Alfred Hitchcock when it comes to capturing and holding his audiences’ attention.  Just look how he has everyone wondering how he will “Make New Jersey an Affordable Place to Live Again”, given his success in bringing  down the state’s unemployment rate to below 9% in April, 2013.  Unfortunately, according to an article in the May 21, 2013 edition of the Home News Tribune (http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013305210030 ) the state revenue forecasts have been lowered.  How this will bode for beleaguered taxpayers remains to be seen.

As some in NJ may have noticed,  Trenton politicians, like Sweeney, Bouno, Coughlin, Vitale and Wisniewski, to name a few, have shown how creative they can be in finding new revenue sources to feed local and state coffers.  One obvious source has been the Red Light Traffic Cams, a Wisniewski favorite.  Then there is the newly state allowed Internet gambling, which many consider a hidden tax on the poor.  And my personal favorite, legalized medical marijuana outlets.  The latter, “Pot Shops” are, in the opinion of many, a despicable ploy by state official to increase state revenues.   It is over the “Pot shops” that I must seriously question Governor Christie politics and core beliefs.

How could a family man, a Republican with national recognition, and a man who swore to uphold the US and the NJ Constitutions sign-off on legislature that violates Federal Law (marijuana is a Schedule 1 narcotic under federal law) by allowing the growing and sale of a products that has no proven medical benefits, as stated in US DEA writing?  Moreover, the state requires those that want the “medical marijuana” to pay a $200.00 registration fee and a state sales on their “subscription medication”! 

Concerned taxpayers and residents of New Jersey should be very concerned the effect this marijuana outlets will have on their children, their communities, their state, their safety and their taxes.  Why the taxes?  Because if a person in need of that “medication” cannot afford it because their medical plan won’t pay for it or they just cannot afford the medication, will Medicare or Medicaid cover the prescription cost, at taxpayer expense. And if it really is a medical prescription, why put a sales tax on it?

Personally, I like Christie, a lot.  I worked on his last election campaign and support many of his current initiatives.  I just hope that as one of NJ’s great ‘directors’, Christie does not give into a bunch of bad actors in Trenton, and that phrases like, Jersey Strong or The Christie Roll,  do not become synonymous with what appears to be a flowering Pot culture in NJ!