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Google Searches for “How to Roll a Joint” Surged in New Jersey After Legalizing Weed
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Garden State voters legalized recreational weed on Tuesday. After the big victory, Google reported a 2,800 percent increase in searches for — what else? — “How to roll a joint.”
Published on November 5, 2020

The Garden State joyfully became “The Ganja State” this past Tuesday, as an overwhelming majority of New Jersey residents voted in favor of legalizing adult-use cannabis.

Apparently getting ready to celebrate their great green victory, New Jerseyans reportedly also spent Tuesday evening searching online for “how to roll a joint.” 

According to Google, searches for that term in the New Jersey area surged by 2,800 percent over the course of the night. Google also said another suddenly popular search at the same time was “when will weed be legal in New Jersey.”

The technical answer to that last question is January 1, 2021. In the meantime, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said that some patience and diligence is required among eager cannabis consumers as the state transitions into legalization.

“It is important that residents accurately understand the current situation, so they do not inadvertently engage in criminal conduct relating to marijuana,” Greenwald stated on Wednesday. “[Such] conduct… may be legal in the future once the Legislature acts, but is not presently legal based on yesterday’s vote.”

In a separate statement to law enforcement, Greenwald wrote, “If legislation is enacted to establish a framework for a legal cannabis market or to decriminalize any quantity of marijuana for personal use, we will promptly provide additional guidance to immediately address issues of fairness and retroactivity, among other topics.”

Assemblyman Jamel Holley, meanwhile, called for an immediate end to all low-level marijuana arrests.

“It is more obvious than ever that New Jerseyans want our lawmakers to focus on serious crimes that affect the safety and welfare of the people,” Holley said. “As we will quickly see at the ballot box, there is no patience anymore for prosecuting people caught smoking and possessing marijuana. It will be a legal, regulated recreational drug, similar to a glass of wine. There is no longer a need for our courts to deal with such petty offenses.”

Gov. Phil Murphy, who fought hard to get the legalization amendment passed, said that he will promptly appoint officials to set up and oversee the state’s legal cannabis regulations and ensuing marketplace.

“The voters in New Jersey overwhelmingly passed the referendum that will allow the legal adult use, recreational cannabis,” Murphy said. “Obviously we are working with our legislative colleagues to get the enabling legislation, We’ll be naming commissioners and an executive director of the commission that will oversee this so, this will now trigger lots of action.”

Regardless, before the measure passed on Tuesday, one New Jersey local hilariously tweeted, “I have 3 victory joints rolled up ready to go! And if it doesn’t pass… I’ll still have 3 joints rolled up ready to go!”

Congrats to New Jersey for the big win!

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Mike McPadden
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Mike McPadden is the author of "Heavy Metal Movies" and the upcoming "Last American Virgins." He writes about movies, music, and crime in Chicago. Twitter @mcbeardo
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