I n her Sept. 19 letter to the editor opposing the legalization of marijuana, state Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini (RMonmouth) clearly showed her contempt for the oath she took when sworn to office: she solemnly swore to support the constitutions of the United States and of the state of New Jersey.
Most likely, she has never bothered to read them, so let me introduce her to the opening of the New Jersey Constitution (and the similar words in the Bill of Rights):
“Article I — Rights and Privileges 1. All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.”
That means we have a unalienable constitutional right to pursue happiness, including via recreational drugs. What doesn’t she understand about this? Simply put, all laws banning recreational drugs are unconstitutional.
Of course, she wants to take the state-isyour nanny route so that lazy, unwilling, or incompetent parents don’t have to bother controlling what their kids do. Her main arguments focus on the adverse effects on teenagers. What is her excuse for banning recreational or medical drugs for people past their teenage years?
Assemblywoman Angelini’s mentality — limit supply by banning it — is what makes drug-dealing so profitable and what motivates dealers to recruit addicts.
Of course, she’s just one little cog in the global cabal to keep drugs illegal. Those profits fund CIA operations and breed money-laundering schemes and tax cheating. The bans “justify” our butting into the affairs of drug-growing countries like Colombia and Afghanistan.
The bans clog courts, increase the prison population and the infrastructure required to support it (prisons and guards), needlessly increase the size of police departments, and they breed gangs and the street violence that make people afraid to go out at night.
So you parents who think that Assemblywoman Angelini is doing you a favor, think again. She is really doing organized crime a favor. Look at the big, big picture. The so-called War on Drugs started in 1971 under President Richard Nixon. Forty-two years later, where do we stand regarding the results?
It is a dismal failure, just like Prohibition during the 1920s and 1930s. People want to enjoy life in diverse ways. Let them.
Stop using your position of power to legislate your beliefs and values, which are totally arbitrary — regardless if you are left or right, Democrat or Republican, black or white, religious or non-religious — onto the public.
Note also what the Constitution says about defending life, protecting property, and pursuing safety. Next time talk comes up about even more stringent gun-control laws, remember what our Constitution says and oppose attempts to make New Jersey’s laws even more draconian. Raymond Kostanty Manalapan