Is Atlantic City’s savior a nice, legal bong hit?
One New Jersey Assemblyman thinks it couldn’t hurt and has proposed legalizing marijuana for recreational use in the resort.
“Give Atlantic City the tools where they can distinguish themselves from other gambling areas around the country,” Trenton Assemblyman Reed Gusciora recently told KYW Newsradio. “My proposal is that we could legalize marijuana recreationally for Atlantic City.”
Gusciora actually has proposed legalizing marijuana throughout the state, but the plan has gotten no support in the state Legislature and is opposed by Governor Chris Christie.
Still, Gusciora’s singling out of Atlantic City for an exemption did get the support of former Atlantic City Council President Frank Gilliam (the city’s council reorganized at the start of the year, electing a new Council President).
Gusciora said he is looking at areas where marijuana has been legalized—such as Colorado and Washington State—and feels the move would help Atlantic City will promote tourism and increase local tax revenue.
“This would have a whole new set of tourism from the east coast,” he told the radio station. “We can get people back from Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York and, at the same time, legalize a substance which is probably coming down to be legalized nationwide in the future.”
Gusciora said the idea is merely in the discussion stage, but he plans to introduce a bill in the next state legislative session, according to the Associated Press.
