*By Amanda Weston*
New Jersey may be the next state to legalize recreational marijuana, but not if state Sen. Gerald Cardinale can help it.
"Legalization promotes additional use," Republican State Sen. Gerald Cardinale told Cheddar Tuesday.
"There is a certain stigma today with respect to marijuana usage that keeps some people from using it. Once you remove that stigma, everyone has a pretty good idea that you know, 'Hey, the government says it's okay. I don't feel bad about using it. Why not? Joe uses it and Millie uses it over there. Why not?'"
"And so you get an increased number of people who are stoned driving. I for one think we have enough traffic accidents already in New Jersey. So I think we should just for that reason alone take a real hard look before we act," added the state senator, who represents the 39th District, which includes parts of Bergen and Passaic Counties.
A joint panel of New Jersey Senate and Assembly lawmakers approved a [bill to legalize recreational pot in the state on Monday](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/11/27/nj-legal-weed-bill-whats-next-after-marijuana-legalization-votes/2124016002/). The committee also addressed expanding New Jersey's medical marijuana program and expunging drug-related crimes.
About 200 people were inside the hearing room, [NJ.com reported](https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2018/11/legal_weed_bill_gets_one_step_closer_to_reality_in.html); debate lasted nearly four hours.
"A lot of people look at this as a way to make more money for NJ," Cardinale [tweeted Monday](https://twitter.com/gerrycardinale/status/1067119027946954752). "I don't see dollar signs. I see heartache & trouble."
He [wrote in a letter Nov. 23](https://www.senatenj.com/index.php/cardinale/memo-on-legalizing-marijuana-cardinale-addresses-officials-staff-nj-press-in-advance-of-committee-vote/41456#more-41456) that marijuana is addictive and legalization corresponds to a rise in deadly car crashes.
Cardinale acknowledged that more African-Americans are sent to jail for marijuana-related offenses than members of other races. He said one way to address the problem is to decriminalize possession of small quantities.
"It would not create additional hordes of marketers who are going to be getting at the non-users and trying to convert them to users," he said.
Those messages are going to eventually come to younger people whose brains are forming and where it is really very, very bad for them to use marijuana. When you get 12-year-olds, as we are seeing in Colorado, using marijuana, they're stunting the development of their brain. Marijuana kills brain cells. That's an established medical fact."
The bill now needs to pass a full vote in the state legislature before heading to the governor's desk.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
