Why you smell weed everywhere in New Jersey

I was a big proponent of decriminalizing marijuana for decades. I didn’t see why people could not “partake“ in a substance that, much like alcohol, was fairly benign and had seemingly temporary effects.

But the way New Jersey did it was not for the issue of freedom or liberty but for tax money and votes. They realized young people would go for it, so it became a big attraction for Democrats in the last gubernatorial election, and the state's ever-growing lust for tax money, so it is an easy way to grab some more of our cash.

It is still not legal to grow it in your backyard, but buying it from a state-licensed and sanctioned “dispensary" is legal. Again, I am not against the legalization or the smoking of weed.

The stuff I smell today seems to smell a lot different than it did when I was a teenager.

It has a skunky odor, which is difficult to discern from an actual skunk. To most of us, it instantly gives off an aura of shadiness or an illegality in the air. Even though now it is legal to smoke it with some restrictions in public places.

Where I smell it the most, to be honest, is on the road.

People seem to have no problem with smoking it in their car while driving or driving with someone else. Well, just like having an open container of alcohol in the car, smoking weed in your vehicle while driving is illegal. Yet somehow people don’t seem to get that or seem to be afraid of that.

Over the weekend, I smelled a strong odor of weed seemingly coming from a car in front of me. When I turned onto Route 130, I observed a big fat guy sitting way back in the seat of his Acura SUV, smoking a joint, driving down the highway in Robbinsville.

He seemed totally oblivious to any danger he might be in from the law or any care in the world about anything.

If you can’t drive with an open container and drink a beer or a scotch, the same goes for smoking a joint while you’re driving a car in New Jersey. This seems to be lost on so many pot smokers. The law specifically prohibits smoking weed while driving.

So the reason you smell it in so many places is that people are driving down the road and “partaking“ in their favorite pastime… seemingly without a care.