Marijuana supporters emboldened in four states

WASHINGTON — Supporters of marijuana gained traction in New Jersey, California, Washington and Nevada in recent days through legislative victories and petitions to legalize the drug.

Barrett Duke, a public policy expert with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), warned that efforts to legalize marijuana are the next steps in the plan that began with the medical marijuana movement.

Medical marijuana is “the Trojan horse of the marijuana legalization movement,” said Duke, the ERLC’s vice president for public policy and research. “It should not come as a surprise that the three states making serious headway toward legalizing the recreational use of marijuana (California, Washington and Nevada) currently permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“Having weakened the resistance of the residents of these states through the acceptance of marijuana for medicinal purposes, the legalization movement is taking them to the next step in their plan,” Duke said.

In New Jersey on Jan. 18, Gov. Jon Corzine signed a bill making that state the 14th to legalize medical marijuana before turning the governor’s office over to a Republican the next day.