Christie: Taxes from weed is 'blood money'

STAFFORD – Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday that society should never allow marijuana to be legalized for recreational use and called any tax revenue that would come from government-regulated cannabis "blood money."

"This should not be permitted in our society, it sends the wrong message," Christie said. "Every bit of objective data tells us that it's a gateway drug to other drugs. And it is not an excuse in our society to say that alcohol is legal so why not make marijuana legal. … Well … why not make heroin legal? Why not make cocaine legal? You know, their argument is a slippery slope."

Christie was addressing elected officials, law enforcement officials and substance abuse treatment professionals at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a local branch of Daytop, an outpatient drug abuse rehabilitation facility, that opened in a former Wawa convenience store on the corner of Route 9 and Hilliard Boulevard in the Manahawkin section on Wednesday morning.

This is Daytop's first rehab center on the Jersey Shore, which has had a presence in Christie's hometown of Mendham since the time the governor was a Morris County freeholder in the mid-1990s.

"Fact is, that we should stop those things we can stop," Christie said. "And as long as I'm governor of New Jersey, there won't be legalized marijuana in this state. And I think other states that have gone down the path of that experiment — mostly in pursuit of tax riches — have shown unless the federal government changes their mind on this, that it becomes a cash business. And not impugning cash businesses, but they tend — at times — to maybe not be the most compliant taxpayers in the world."

The governor said he believes states like Colorado, where recreational marijuana use is legal but strictly regulated, have confirmed this statement.

"I've had many taxpayers at town hall meetings who will ask me about, why not legalize marijuana to make the taxes go a little higher?" Christie said. "To me, that's blood money. I'm not going to put the lives of children and citizens at risk to put a little more money into the state coffers, at least not on my watch."

Later in the day, New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform released a statement in response to the governor's comments. The Newark-based lobbying group said Christie had used his appearance at the newly opened treatment center to ratchet up his opposition to marijuana legalization to new levels of hyperbole.

"Right now, revenue from marijuana sales goes to street corner dealers and drug cartels, which are thriving in the unregulated marketplace," the statement read. "The real harms from marijuana in (New Jersey) are the tens of thousands of lives damaged each year by the discriminatory arrest practices that have grown under Gov. Christie's watch. If the governor truly wants to reduce the harms of marijuana, he should support government regulation and control."

The organization went on to explain that it strongly objected to the governor's characterizations of marijuana as inaccurate, misleading, and an effort to avoid a serious conversation on the issue.

"New Jersey makes more than 21,000 marijuana possession arrests per year and black New Jerseyans are nearly three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, despite similar usage rates," the organization said in its statement.

"Legalizing, taxing, and regulating marijuana will put an end to the tremendous harms caused by our current laws, create jobs, increase public safety, and generate millions of dollars in revenue to fund projects that help all New Jerseyans, including evidence-based drug prevention and treatment strategies and reinvestment in communities," the statement said.

Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato, who was appointed by Christie two years ago, said the governor is correct: Marijuana is in fact a gateway drug. Moreover, there are now statistics available that indicate that Colorado's experiment has given legal cover to street dealers peddling more potent forms of marijuana unavailable in government regulated stores.

Coronato said the additional tax revenue is not worth it.

"It's a sin tax," Coronato said. "But do you really want to balance your budget on the addictions of others?"

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@app.com