cannabisnews.com: Colorado Might Have A Better Quality Of Life
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Colorado Might Have A Better Quality Of Life
Posted by CN Staff on April 24, 2014 at 10:46:18 PT
By Matt Ferner
Source: Huffington Post
New Jersey -- On a recent radio program, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) slammed Colorado's recreational marijuana laws, which was not a surprise -- Christie has long been a vocal opponent of marijuana legalization in New Jersey. What was surprising was the governor's take that the new Colorado pot laws have ushered in a "quality of life" problem that New Jersey doesn't want."See if you want to live in a major city in Colorado, where there's head shops popping up on every corner and people flying into your airport just to come and get high," Christie said during his monthly "Ask the Governor" radio show, according to CNN. "To me, it's just not the quality of life we want to have here in the state of New Jersey and there's no tax revenue that's worth that."
When asked by The Huffington Post for a reaction to Christie's critical statements about Colorado, Eric Brown, communications director for Gov. John Hickenlooper (D), defended the state. "A lot of people think Colorado is a great place to live, work and play," Brown said. "Plus, we have a pretty awesome quality of life. But don't just take our word for it."Brown cited a number of statistics about the respective quality of life in Colorado and New Jersey that Christie may want to brush up on before he slams the Centennial State again.Business climate: It turns out Colorado is a great place for business, ranking seventh out of the 50 states in a 2013 study from CNBC that took into consideration metrics like economy, infrastructure and the cost of doing business. New Jersey came in 42nd.Forbes agrees, listing Colorado as the fifth best state for "business and careers." New Jersey comes in 32nd on the Forbes list.Economic growth and job creation: FreeEnterprise.com gathered data on just how well the 50 states do at creating jobs and fostering economic growth. They ranked Colorado second in the nation for innovation and entrepreneurship (New Jersey was 14th), 14th in economic performance (New Jersey came in at 33rd), and eighth for business climate (New Jersey was 49th).The state of the states: Politico recently gathered various data points from the Census Bureau, the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and incorporated them with a slew of other factors, including income, high school graduation rates, life expectancy and more. In their subsequent ranking of the 50 states, Colorado came in seventh overall, while New Jersey came in 12th.General well-being: The health care company Healthways partnered up with Gallup in 2013 to evaluate well-being across the United States. Looking at residents' habits and behavior, emotional and physical health, work environments and more, they determined that Colorado ranks seventh in overall well-being. New Jersey comes in 23rd.Technology and science: The Milken Institute, a California think tank, recently took a close look at how states foster growth in technology and science, two areas that will likely prove key to the United States' economic recovery. Colorado was ranked fourth in the nation. New Jersey was ranked 15th.Both Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, but the first legal sales didn't begin in Colorado until Jan. 1, 2014. Washington's first retail dispensaries are expected to open later this year. Twenty-one states, including New Jersey, have legalized marijuana for medicinal use, and about a dozen others are considering legalization in some form in the coming years.And although Christie may be against marijuana legalization, nationally, Americans appear to be in strong favor of it. A recent Gallup poll showed that for the first time, a clear majority of Americans want to see marijuana legalized. The decades-long war on drugs is also steadily losing public favor. A recent survey from Pew found that 67 percent of Americans say the government should provide treatment for people who use illegal drugs, while only 26 percent believe the government should be prosecuting drug users.However, New Jersey voters are split about legalizing recreational pot use. According to a recent poll from Rutgers-Eagleton, 49 percent of state voters are in favor of legalization, while 48 percent are opposed. Notably, 65 percent of New Jersey voters did say they'd like to see the elimination of penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.By many accounts, Colorado's legal recreational market has been a success. Revenue-wise, it's been tremendously profitable: In January alone, 59 marijuana dispensaries -- a small fraction of the approximately 550 total dispensaries in the state that could qualify to sell legal cannabis -- generated $14 million in sales. Business went up slightly in February, bringing a two-month total of about $7.6 million in medical and recreational taxes and fees into the state's coffers.All of this, contra Christie, hasn't led to streets filled with stoned zombies. Regulations are strict: Pot is still illegal to use in public, there are no Amsterdam-style cafés and adults 21 and over can only legally use on their private property. In just the first two months of legal recreational marijuana sales, overall crime in Denver, where a majority of the state's marijuana dispensaries are located, has fallen."Colorado continues to be a top American state," Michael Elliott, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group, told HuffPost. "And Colorado’s marijuana program, which follows in the footsteps of many other successful state rights programs, is part of what makes Colorado an excellent place to live and work.” "There is plenty of evidence indicating that Colorado's marijuana program is enhancing safety, the economy and civil liberties in Colorado," he added.Elliott even offered to give Christie a tour of one of the state's licensed and legal marijuana facilities."We would also be happy to show him how 500 pages of state marijuana law is safety and responsibly implemented," Elliott said. "And we would be happy to show him the various aspects of our program, such as state and local licensing, background checks [and] financial disclosures; security requirements such as mandatory video surveillance, alarm systems and limited access areas; consumer safety requirements such as child-resistant packaging, detailed labeling with warnings and testing for potency and harmful contaminants like mold and mildew; and seed-to-sale tracking with mandatory RFID tags."Christie's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HuffPost.Source: Huffington Post (NY)	Author: Matt FernerPublished: April 24, 2014Copyright: 2014 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC Contact: scoop huffingtonpost.comWebsite: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/k8U0fPF4CannabisNews  -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on April 25, 2014 at 04:57:24 PT
cannabissaves
It's good to see you. I wish you good health and peace.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by cannabissaves on April 24, 2014 at 21:56:13 PT:
alot clamer
The last post that I wright was o e that came from the a bad place and I am sorry for bad mourhing.for if I can say it to someo e face the. It not wortb saying.please do t get me wrong I would never hurt soe o e or do I wish them pain.but I come from a place of disparity to meet my health care needs.and I have no idead of what ever happen to we the people fo it is long gone and almost forgotten thus cou try was built on majority rule.and the people have long spoken out load with freedom in their hearts and hope a bright flame I. Thier eyes I was reflecting at my fire pit befor. As I looked to the stars and remember that men like this they never last the test of time because they always turn on thos that got them were they are becuase theyonly care for the the aadvancement of them slefs.and not the betterment of what people want.I am a ODINIST i believe their are man gods and goddess .from different realms or different types of heaven.but I only stand for and follow thos of the norths man noirs gods.it dont mean I do t respect the other gods from different realms .just like a man who hold any political office should respect the views ad right of all about all the rights that the gods give to us that ei g Alive gives to us .it is our choice our bodies alot of us know whats medicine works best for us and it our right to choose. Even if we choose to smoke instead of drink thats our right.every religion even all branches of Christianity used to use cannabis in a lot of ways especially hemp
HAIL. ODIN
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by FoM on April 24, 2014 at 20:16:54 PT
gloovins
It's really good to see you!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by FoM on April 24, 2014 at 20:15:42 PT
Justice John Paul Stevens: MJ Should be Legalized
Justice John Paul Stevens: Marijuana Should be LegalizedApril 24, 2014URL: http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/supreme-court-justice-john-paul-stevens-legalize-pot
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Comment #5 posted by gloovins on April 24, 2014 at 19:08:07 PT
From who?
HA - could you imagine having to live under the directive of 
some obese, moron governor's opinion of YOUR "quality of life"? Now that makes me laugh. This governor is from that generation that loses credibility daily with their prohibitionist views. He is one of those people who will always link cannabis to "bad" while in office for the special interests mostly. Meshed with his own personal view. He should go to Colorado and see how it works and how there is no problem. See how cannabis is different than alcohol and what it does. I mean, this Christie character could go to a bar in New Jersey for Fri, Sat and Sun night from 6 pm to close -- he doesn't drink but observes everything that happens. Now, he should do the same at a cannabis cafe and see the people and how much,...nicer they are. Really, this is 2014, wake up governor get on the progress/reality/peace train man. This, "Marijuana Is Bad" notion without any real life experience with the plant in the modern world today really retards and suspends intellectual prowess. It really does. And it makes you look, like a very backwards person to a young person. Like you are not at all rooted in reality. I mean really you have 50 states, you can only live in either two say, NJ or CO, where would you go? CO for sure. ;) I have been to both states and CO hands down is by far a superior state to live in IMHO. The Rocky Mountains alone are intoxicating...forget herb for a sec. I hope all are well tonight...:)
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on April 24, 2014 at 18:30:23 PT
Gov. Christie, put this in your pipe
EDITORIALGov. Christie, put this in your pipeBy The Denver Post Editorial Boardhttp://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_25631458/gov-christie-put-this-your-pipe
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Comment #3 posted by cannabissaves on April 24, 2014 at 17:09:52 PT:
I have to live in jersey
Jersey is very corrupt and ChrisChristie leads it .I bet he has alot for stocks in prisons and big pharmaceutical companies.the medical program here sucks it is just terrible .Christie says it works fine and hardly anyone wants in on it but thats just because its impossible to get a card.he ask like a dictator and is a bad person all around he messed up our education system just pushes his weight all over the state.(a few years back jersey had a small eearthquake I think he just fell when he passed out eatig from his personal buffet.) I realy wish jersey was more like CO I mean all around I have tumors that grow old on my nerves system and I cant get a medical cannabis card becuase of him I call on LOKi to be very mischievous to him and may his fat cold heart give out and he burn in hatis
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on April 24, 2014 at 16:55:14 PT
Sam
I wish I had a like button.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on April 24, 2014 at 16:45:22 PT
Christie
at this point it probably helps to have Christie criticizing MJ reform, everyone knows what kind of a person he is.He's just a shill for Pharma at this point, Pharma and the hedge funders that profit from the industry. I'm guessing that government corruption in NJ is far worse than Colorado, just due to the size and age of the state.  I think most people would much rather live in Colorado than New Jersey, based on the cost of living and general quality of life.Instead of head shops on the corner, Christie would prefer jails and prisons. He's a crook and a glutton.
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