State Sen. Ronald Rice (D) told NJTV this week that he believes marijuana is a gateway drug and claimed that when recreational marijuana is legalized, "the number of people who've never used any type of drugs goes up substantially in terms of drug use."

"If in fact we legalize recreational marijuana, right across the street from my office they're going to put up stores," Rice told the outlet. "They want to call them dispensaries, but they're going to be stores that do retail selling cupcakes with marijuana, candies with marijuana, sex toys and oils with marijuana, lipsticks with marijuana, all those kinds of products that kids can get and people can get."

Rice has long opposed marijuana legalization and is the leader of New Jersey's Legislative Black Caucus, which has similarly held up efforts to legalize the drug, according to NJTV.