ACLU-NJ Calls for Taxing and Regulating Marijuana

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

NEWARK – Senator Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) announced today he is introducing a bill to tax and regulate marijuana in New Jersey.

The ACLU-NJ and national ACLU have been calling for ending the failed war on drugs in our state, which has disproportionately targeted black New Jerseyans for marijuana charges.

The following is a statement from Udi Ofer, executive director of the ACLU-NJ:

“Taxing and regulating marijuana is an important step toward ending the failed war on drugs in New Jersey. The state’s war on drugs derails the lives of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans a year, especially African Americans, who are close to three times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession despite similar usage rates.

Countless New Jerseyans have suffered from lost job, housing, and educational opportunities as a result of wasteful enforcement of nonviolent, low-level marijuana possession offenses. The time has come to move toward ending the injustice brought on by the war on drugs.”