opinion

OPINION: Cannabis industry prepares to take off

As New Jersey seemingly moves closer to legalizing marijuana, concerns have arisen about legal and societal effects, and some towns have considered banning sales if the state follows through. But supporters continue to anticipate eventual success. We asked Scott Rudder, head of the New Jersey Cannabusiness Association, to discuss some of the ongoing challenges and how those in the burgeoning cannabis industry are preparing for the future.

We should begin with a bit of background. What is the New Jersey Cannabusiness Association, and how long has it been around? Is it an association for businesses that don’t yet exist?

The New Jersey CannaBusiness Association (NJCBA) was formed as a non-profit trade organization to represent the needs of the current industry in New Jersey as well as the expected future expansion of the medical program and the transition into adult-use.

You are a corporate executive and a Republican with years of experience as an elected official, including a stint in the Statehouse. Why do you have such an interest in cannabis?

Several reasons. First and foremost was my education as a legislator and how the more I knew about cannabis the more I became comfortable with it as a medicine. After speaking with the mother of child who suffered 200-300 seizures per day, and cannabis was her only remedy, I became fully convinced that me, as an elected official, should have little to say about how a mother in consultation with a doctor should treat her child. Other experiences including that of one my dear friends who suffered a tragic accident and became dependent on opioids for his pain management — and suffered four kidney failures and became addicted as a result of the opioids, and how medical cannabis transformed his quality of life to include eliminating opioids altogether from his medical regimen.

The other reason is the opportunity to be part of a bigger effort to end 80 years of a social injustice while at the same time promoting a product that is safer than many of the drugs we are prescribed, the alcohol we drink and even the sugar we ingest.

Just to be clear, is there any meaningful difference between the terms “cannabis” and “marijuana” or are they interchangeable?

Marijuana is slang for cannabis much like “weed” or “pot”. However, marijuana has a negative in racist origin and many in the industry are steering away from the use of that word to the actual correct word of cannabis. Also, calling cannabis weed or pot is not too different than calling wine “hooch” or scotch “booze.” It’s slang, but people in the scotch industry would loathe someone calling their 12-year aged scotch booze.

Legalization of pot wouldn’t be new. We’d actually be ending a prohibition that goes back to mid-20th century, isn’t that right? Wasn’t cannabis legal until that point?

Cannabis prohibition started 80 years ago. Prior to that, it was used for medical and recreational purposes for thousands of years across multiple cultures. In fact, some of today’s pharmaceutical manufactures, like Eli Lilly, produced cannabis oil that was used for pain management, stomach pain and arthritis.

What happened? Why was marijuana demonized in a way that alcohol, for instance, was not, at least after alcohol’s own prohibition era?

One could write an entire book discussing the coordinated conspiracy, based on greed and racism, where the federal government essentially partnered with the last of the Robber Barons to ensure cannabis and hemp were banned. In fact, many books have been written on this subject. The focus of the campaign in the 1930s had more to do with hemp than cannabis. Since they are essentially the same thing except with different levels of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis) they targeted both to eliminate any confusion. Why? Because hemp in particular was (and is) a threat to the paper and timber industry as well as other industrial products to include petroleum-based products such as nylon at the time. Those who were the most threatened by hemp spent the most to eliminate the competition.

The campaign included demonizing black and Hispanic populations. Actual quotes from Harry J. Anslinger, the director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (today’s DEA) from 1930 until 1962:

•“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.​​”

•“Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men.​”

•“The primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.​”

Is marijuana genuinely harmless? Or mostly harmless? Do you think it should fall into the category of other readily available drugs that can be abused but need not be banned?

Cannabis is a drug and there should be appropriate regulations surrounding it. For example, driving impaired can be a reality and it is not OK. It is not OK if it’s cannabis, alcohol, opioids or even Tylenol PM. Further, there is no comparison when it comes to cannabis and things like opioids, cocaine or even caffeine and sugar. Each one of those things are highly addictive and when abused can cause on overdose.

That being said, when compared to other common things we ingest on a daily basis to include what we feed our children, cannabis is certainly healthier. For example, caffeine and sugar are far more negative on our bodies than cannabis. Think about that the next time you saddle up with a cup of coffee and your morning cereal with 30 grams of sugar per serving.

There seems to be a great deal of conflicting information from states where marijuana has already been legalized regarding the impact. What do you believe are the most compelling facts that should ease the concerns of those wary of full legalization?

Despite the fact that we have more cannabis being sold in the U.S. than ever before, we are at a 20-year low when it comes to teenage use of cannabis (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Prior to legalizing cannabis, Colorado had the highest teenage use. Now, several years later, they dropped to No. 7 and the trend continues to go downward (National Survey on Drug Use and Health).

Another major concern is traffic fatalities, in a controlled study produced by American Public Health Association using federal data, they discovered that after three years of legalization, changes in motor vehicle fatalities rates for Washington and Colorado were not statistically different from those in similar states that have not legalized cannabis.

READ:Spotswood opposes legal weed

Regardless of any accident numbers to date, the difficulty of enforcing any stoned driver laws appears genuine. What can the state do about that?

There are different technologies that are deployed in states that have legalized cannabis. Some are in official use and others are still in testing phases. These devices seek to provide an equivalent measurement of cannabis impairment as the breathalyzers currently provide for alcohol impairment.

In addition to new technology, police departments are training their officers to become Drug Recognition Experts (DRE’s). DREs have been specially trained to make a determination on whether a person is impaired. This is important whether we are talking about cannabis, opioids or cough syrup. Impaired driving is hard to detect if it’s not alcohol so the DREs are a valuable resource.

Would you be comfortable with decriminalization as a preliminary step toward eventual legalization? Or do you worry that’s as far as New Jersey might go?

Decriminalization needs to happen. No question about it. But decriminalization without legal access to cannabis is sending the wrong message and may make a bad situation worse. For example, we would be telling people it’s no longer a crime to possess cannabis, you just need to go to your corner drug dealer to get it. Do you know what else your drug dealer has? Heroin. Cocaine, pills and almost anything else you want. A regulated industry ensures the products that are available are tested and safe. And besides, drug dealers don’t card and they don’t pay taxes. Dispensary operators do.

Let’s assume the state does go ahead and fully legalize marijuana. Meanwhile, however, the federal government is making noises about enforcing its own restrictions, and some municipalities are already talking about banning sales within their towns. Do you worry about all of that uncertainty and how that might hamper the development of the cannabis industry?

Not at all and most in the industry do not. There are many reasons for this but perhaps the most important reason is the 10th Amendment to the Constitution which allows states to control the commerce within their borders. So as long as businesses are following the letter of the law in NJ, they should feel safe from the federal government in the business operations.

READ:Towns taking a wait-and-see attitude on weed

What kind of feedback are you getting from people interested in becoming part of the cannabis industry about how these dueling interests will play out?

Most people in the cannabis industry believe as I do; the federal government will not interfere with those businesses that are compliant with state laws. In addition to that, the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, a bipartisan amendment in our federal budget, bans the use of federal dollars to crack down on legal cannabis businesses in states where it is legal.

So what would a cannabis industry look like? How many types of businesses are we talking about, and what does your association anticipate in terms of overall jobs created in the state?

What most people do not realize, there already is a cannabis industry in New Jersey. With medical cannabis dispensaries already operational in the state and the thousands of patients already in the program, the cannabis industry is here and its growing.

The first thing we need to do in New Jersey is expand our medical program. While it is here and it is operational, the fact of the matter is it has been overly restricted, cumbersome to navigate through and often too long to process. Governor Murphy issued an executive order to evaluate the program and offer solutions to make patient access a priority and we are anxious to see his recommendations.

As we get closer to the adult-use market, we will see the creation of entrepreneurs as well as jobs. What that will look like exactly remains to be seen. But one thing we do know, we have the benefit from learning the lessons from other states to make certain that whatever we do here in the Garden State, it is a properly regulated and responsible industry that will provide healthier alternatives to opioids and alcohol.

How would you summarize the public benefits of legalization?

Three main accomplishments will happen by ending cannabis prohibition: 1) An end to an injustice that has disproportionally targeted minority communities; 2) A dramatic reduction of opioid overdoses and alcohol deaths and 3) The creation of new entrepreneurs and thousands of new jobs.

Scott Rudder is president of the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association.