“How to Roll a Joint” Searches Surged on Google in New Jersey After the State Legalized Cannabis
Legal Pot is Coming to New Jersey, and Many Residents Are Learning the Basics.
Before technology made everything easier, you had to learn how to do things on your own. For stoners, that meant you couldn’t look up how to master your pot skills — you’d have to practice on your own.
The world is different now, though. Technology has changed, and so have cannabis laws. Here’s what happened to search engines when one state took a step towards legalization.
Here’s What New Jersey Residents Googled After The Election.
During the 2020 election in the U.S., five states had the opportunity to legalize cannabis in some way. The notions passed in all five states, meaning a ton of joints are about to get rolled. Of course, legalization is going to bring forward new stoners, and that means there’s a lot of learning to do.
New Jersey residents have already started to prepare. This is one of the states that voted “yes” to cannabis legalization, alongside Arizona, Mississippi, Montana and South Dakota. Even though cannabis legalization rules in New Jersey won’t go into effect until 2021, a report from Google indicates that amateur stoners are already crafting their skills.
Google’s figures indicate that, in New Jersey, the phrase “how to roll a joint” surged in searches by 2,800 percent over a four-hour period.
We’re sure that there are always a handful of newbies using the web to master the art of joint-rolling. But the election results must have inspired new users to get ready to roll.
Legal Weed Is Finally Coming To New Jersey. Here’s What Happened.
Cannabis users in New Jersey have waited a long time for the state to legalize the plant for medical use. Though cannabis has been legal for medical use since 2010, the state has taken a relatively strict approach to regulating recreational use. In 2017, the state issued over 34,000 arrests for possession.
Finally, on the Nov. 3 election ballot, voters had the opportunity to approve or reject a notion to allow residents over the age of 21 to possess and use cannabis. The ballot would need a majority of voters to check “yes” on the notion, and 67 percent of them did.
However, legalization would not go into effect immediately. The Senate and the Assembly could not agree on some of the specifics of the new rules. New Jersey lawmakers have spent weeks cooperating on a bill that would launch the state’s new cannabis industry. They’ve finally done that, and the final result will be voted upon on Dec. 17.
Specifically, the bill says that no more than 37 cultivation licenses will be issued over the first two years. Additionally, 70 percent of the funds collected from sales tax and a grower tax will be given to programs that support communities and individuals disproportionately affected by anti-drug laws and attitudes.
