Marijuana has repeatedly been proven to NOT cause cancer, heart disease, brain damage, liver disease, emphysema, or any other significant health issue, state funded drugrehabsand its addiction potential is about on par with coffee. The federal marijuana prohibition is BAD law that makes kids LESS safe!
Addiction touches so many lives, and destroys one mily at a time, McGreevey says. The governor stated the obvious.
If each individuals cycle of poverty is closely examined, Ill bet the VAST majority of cases are due to absolutely moronic life decisions. Fathering or mothering a baby when you cant even support YOURSELF is one. Another is doing absolutely nothing while in school.
•Gov. Christie proposes 10 percent N.J. income tax reduction
What I&8217;m doing now is more authentic than anything I&8217;ve ever done before, McGreevey says.
If I start liking this guy I wont have anything to talk about...maybe just maybe he actually is human
Moran: Focus on drug war overhaul a bright spot in Gov. Christies address state funded drugrehabs,It was not when he pressed Democrats to reform education either, because those battle lines were drawn months ago, and the odds are that Christie will get about half of what he wants.
•State of the State 2012: Full text of Gov. Christies speech
The problem with people hooked on drugs, in addition to the drug use crimes they commit, they commit other more violent crimes to get the money or obtain the drugs. I believe most of the violent crime in the United States is connected to drugs in one way or another. For example, recently a drug addict blew into a drug store on Long Island looking to rob it of pain killers and killed the people inside while he was at it.
the drug war is an archaic idea..i mean some drugs need looking after meth heroin etc. but all the countless billions fighting weed?really?way too much money being spent foolishly year after year.
And then he created it. Jim McGreevey, sitting perhaps 10 feet from Christie, jumped out of his seat to try to start a standing ovation.
Gov. Tough Guy, as it turns out, is not afraid to show some heart for the downtrodden.
That is probably the worst thing New Jersey does to its poor population. If Christie is able to reverse course on this, and if he really funds effective drug treatment programs, he will have donMoran: Focus on drug war overhaul a bright spot in Gov. Christies address state funded druge more for New Jersey&8217;s poor than Jon Corzine or McGreevey ever did.
Yeah, the gubmints gonna fix those problems
But the truth is that Christie can&8217;t be boxed in as a traditional conservative. This speech, in ct, had a great deal to offer to the state&8217;s urban poor.
Making treatment available to those who want treatment is a good thing. Forcing treatment on people who dont want treatment is a waste of time and money. But the guy who refuses to enforce the law to provide medical marijuana laws is not going to do anything effective in the useless war on drugs. Watch to see the politically connected get into the drug treatment business just like they did with the private education business.
As long as they have not violently victimized society, everyone deserves a second chance, because no life is disposable, he said.
The change in strategy on the drug war is the big one. New Jersey is holding nearly 7,000 non-violent drug offenders in its state prisons today, and countless more in its jails. Over time, this creates an army of convicts, most of them black and Latino, who have criminal records that almost ensure they will be economic cripples for life.
Christie&8217;s speech had heaping servings of conservative red meat that drove Democrats nuts, beginning with a proposed tax cut that would give a mily earning $50,000 a year $80 while giving a mily earning $1 million $7,266.
hes trying to tackle problems that are condemning the states poor population to a cycle of poverty.
Sure, you can go too r with this. Christie&8217;s criticism of urban education Tuesday seemed like a preamble to deep cuts in funding. And with or without tenure reform, that would hurt poor kids.
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In 2010, we arrested around 750K people nationwide for Marijuana, only 550K for violent crimes. About 1/2 of ALL drug arrests are Marijuana related. In ct, weve DOUBLED the number of annual Marijuana arrests in 30 years since the war on drugs started. Too many people have too much interest in victimizing certain members of our society for perpetuating a victimless crime. I wonder if violent crime would go down if we took this off our cops agenda?
And that is when the moment came. In the front row sat former Gov. James E. McGreevey, in the spotlight at the Statehouse for the first time since resigning in disgrace eight years ago.
Start by completely removing ALL mandatory minimums and give judges back discretion over sentencing. Marijuana should be decriminalized with possession of small amounts garnering a fine. Sorry to say but the PBA and FOP have too much at stake than to permit laws to change. After all, if you decriminalize Marijuana you can fire about 1/3 of the cops.
•In 2012 State of the State address, Gov. Christie calls for tax cuts, [adult school] Job Front: Hiring outlook positive for early 2012 in Sacramento region? sacramento (1) 2011-12-27 14:33:18 tenure and bail reform
TRENTON— The most important moment in Gov. Chris Christie&8217;s speech Tuesday was not when he proposed a giant income-tax cut, because that will never pass.
The highlight came after Christie called for a revolution in New Jersey&8217;s approach to the drug war that would divert non-violent addicts from prison and put them in treatment programs instead. And he did it with characteristic Christie style, in big bold strokes.
So what kind of perk does McGreevy get. Along with John Clancy.. I suppose William Pallatucci Christies best friend who works for Community Education Centers will get Clancy another contract. Then what does he do with his immigration? Or is Delaney Hall going to be all immigration soon and Clancy will gladly build another cility.. Look out Corrections they are pushing you out. Community Education center can do this cheaper BECAUSE there is no training like corrections. These guys are not trained at all to handle prisoners. This will be another accident waiting to happen.
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But the tax cut is a ntasy. With that move, Christie is playing to a national audience, trying to keep in the good graces of both the Tea Party and the Wall Street folks who fund campaigns.
I am profoundly grateful to him, McGreevey said. I just think it&8217;s great.
Addiction is a mental illness..part of being mentally ill is denying that you have a problem ....in ct that is their biggest problem....so the percentage of people who are addicts thinking they have a problem is very small...and to wait for them to decide on their own that they need treatment is a long wait brother...yes, in order for treatment to be successful in the long term the addicted person must want treatment...that is true...but initially when they are in the grip of their addiction they need encouragement ,support and even a kick in the a$$ from others...
•Dems: Gov. Christies proposed income tax cut would be more beneficial to wealthy
If he were governor today, he said, his top priority would be to do exactly what Christie is doing with the drug war.
Add to this his education plans, especially tenure reform. If he succeeds, and New Jersey is able to get rid of bad teachers, no one will benefit more than poor kids in cities. The same goes for charters schools. And his voucher plan is limited to poor kids in iling districts — rich white kids need not apply.
So they are either jailed or sent to rehab. Either way is expensive to the taxpayers.
We are not going to cut taxes for millionaires, said Senate President Steve Sweeney. He&8217;s already coddled millionaires. Since he came into offices it&8217;s a protected class.
As for McGreevey, he seems happy these days. Praying and counseling sits well with a conscience that was once so mously tortured. And those who have watched him in group therapy sessions says he&8217;s got a gift for it.
The meat of this speech, the parts we should pay most attention to, were his plans on education and the drug war. And on both counts, he&8217;s trying to tackle problems that are condemning the state&8217;s poor population to a cycle of poverty.
I am not satisfied to have this merely as a pilot project, the governor said. I am calling for a transformation of the way we deal with drug abuse and incarceration in every corner of New Jersey.
So he sat bolt upright, and joined the applause. But that was not enough. He looked left, then right, as if searching for a bigger reaction.
I agree with GreenPirate. Forcing an addict to submit to treatment is useless. The addict must want to get treated and want to get their life in order. I totally disagree with MDonofrio because most crimes are drug driven, including marijuana addicts. Its also well known that marijuana use can lead to use of stronger drugs such as coccaine and heroin - elevating the user to a stronger addiction. The one thing that everyone is forgetting here is: What programs do you plan on placing all of these low-level addicts into and who will monitor them to ensure they are compliant? Who is going to pay for all these mandated programs and the salaries of the army of people that will be needed to monitor the thousands of Jersey drug addict in the system? I still think we need to go the opposite way. Stop coddling the system loving criminals and make them hate jail/prison time. Take the televisions, weight rooms, and ball courts out of the jails and prisons and make them work 8-10 hours per day, 6 days each week. On the 7th day they can attend drug counseling and religious services. That will teach them how to live like the rest of working class Americans and survive in society.
And it worked. Within five or six seconds, the entire Assembly chamber, Democrats and Republicans, followed the lead of the humbled former governor, giving sustained applause from their feet.
More than 200 million people consume alcohol in the U.S. - resulting in 75,000 unnecessary deaths each year and multiple adverse health consequences, including liver cirrhosis, cancers, unintentional injuries, and violence. Much of this misery could be prevented by allowing alcohol users to substitute the FAR safer recreational drug, marijuana, for alcohol.
His mostly gray hair is clipped short now, like a Marine. And his days are taken up with counseling drug addicts, most of them criminals emerging from time in jail. Christie&8217;s talk about a second chance, about no life being disposable, hit the bulls-eye on McGreevey&8217;s reborn heart.
Understand, we are talking about Trenton, and this touching bipartisan moment did not quite carry the day.
And his tax cut is not only tilted to the rich, it would deprive the state of money it needs for schools and towns, ensuring that the middle-class will continue to get pounded by high property taxes.
