Last year there was guidance from New Jersey’s Attorney General concerning law enforcement officers’ use of marijuana. The guidance was not as explicit as it should have been. It seemed as if it were the policy of the Attorney General that police officers could participate in the use of the federallyillegal drug. According to a social media post by the New Jersey PBA, the clarification they were seeking was finally delivered recently and aligns somewhat with former suspicions:

Tonight after months of back and forth, we finally have gotten clarity to the Attorney General Law Enforcement Drug Testing Policy. The new policy reflects significant changes to the cannabis/marijuana testing procedures. These rule changes provide officers with clear guidelines and protection.

The post included a screenshot of a section of the revised policy [emphasis added]:

VI. ANALYSIS OF SPECIMENS

A. The analysis of the first specimen shall be done in accordance with currently accepted procedures adopted by the Laboratory. These procedures shall include but not be limited to security of the test specimens, chain of custody, initial screening and confirmation testing, parent drug and metabolite cut-off levels and the issuance of final reports. In addition to the controlled substances listed below, every Law Enforcement Executive may request that specimens be analyzed for the presence of steroids.

B. The Laboratory’s drug testing procedures will screen specimens for the following controlled substances:

• Amphetamines
• Barbiturates
• Benzodiazepines
• Cocaine
• Methadone
• Opiates
• Oxycodone/Oxymorphone
• Phencyclidine
• Marijuana/Cannabis (only to be included in the testing process when: the officer is assigned to a federal task force; the officer holds a federally regulated license, which requires testing (e.g. pilot or commercial driver’s license); the law enforcement agency is specifically required to test by the terms of a federal contract or federal grant; or as outlined in the reasonable suspicion sections II.C.2 and II.C.3 herein)7

And just like that the New Jersey Attorney General further solidified the fact that New Jersey has subjects and said human-units live in a caste system. Regular Mr. Joe New Jersey, if he were to wish to be in possession of a firearm, he’d be disqualified under federal statute if he participated in the consumption of marijuana. The federal form 4473 even stipulates that marijuana use, even in jurisdictions that have decriminalized its use, will disqualify a buyer from procuring a firearm. But this does not apply to all of New Jersey’s police officers.

The state of New Jersey, by not holding all police officers to the same standards when it comes to firearm possession and illegal drug use, is not even trying to hide the fact that there are rules for the elite ruling class and there are rules for the peasants. There are some law enforcement officers that don’t have to comport to the same laws as the taxpayers that pay their salaries.

This class system was recently illustrated when the same New Jersey State PBA advocated for retired police officers to have different carry rights than normal permit to carry holders. Not only did the state PBA laud the legislature’s changes in law to accommodate them, they actively advocated for retired police to have more rights than normal citizens. The president of the state PBA had these remarks to make towards the end of 2022 on the legislation [emphasis added]:

“I would like to thank legislative leadership for agreeing to over 20 amendments at our request over the last several weeks to get this bill to a better place.  Although we would like to have seen a few more changes, this bill respects the training, qualifications and tremendous experience our retirees deserve.  They will remain an important component in keeping the residents and visitors of New Jersey safe and secure.” – Patrick Colligan, President of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association

The Garden State gun owner remains exactly where the state wants them, situated with New Jersey’s boot standing on their necks.

“It did not seem strange when next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters. It did not seem strange to learn that the pigs had bought themselves a wireless set, were arranging to install a telephone, and had taken out subscriptions to ‘John Bull’, ‘Tit-Bits’, and the ‘Daily Mirror’. It did not seem strange when Napoleon was seen strolling in the farmhouse garden with a pipe in his mouth—no, not even when the pigs took Mr. Jones’s clothes out of the wardrobes and put them on, Napoleon himself appearing in a black coat, ratcatcher breeches, and leather leggings, while his favourite sow appeared in the watered silk dress which Mrs. Jones had been used to wearing on Sundays.” – George Orwell, Animal Farm

There’s a much more pragmatic and – dare I steal a word from the left – equitable way of handling such things. Rather than elevating some of New Jersey’s law enforcement officers to a status above the rest of the citizens, New Jersey could level the playing field and apply this policy to all people.

If the Garden State is okay with ignoring federal law when it comes to marijuana use, they too should be okay with ignoring the federal prohibitions to firearm possession for the same, for all the people. The New Jersey Attorney General should demand that the federal government no longer execute the section of law on such prohibitions and call for statutory reform.

This all goes on to be said knowing that the federal law, and many others, needs to be scrapped concerning firearm possession prohibitions. Simple question, at the time of the founding would someone not be allowed to own a firearm because they got stoned? NYSRPA v. Buren invalidates almost all the gun laws in the U.S., this just needs to be proved case by case.

Unfortunately this reality of unequal application of the law is not a grand revelation. New Jersey has been and will continue to be in the national spotlight on such matters. Liberty, freedom, civil-rights and everything in between, will continue to be subverted by progressive policies. Governor Murphy and the ruling class hate the very people they exploit in order to wield their power. All animals are equal, my posterior.