I’m in Jersey, too and I smell it everywhere 
I do all of my shopping, dining out and beach-going in a very “live and let live” little city, so I’m sure that is part of the reason. It is much less flagrant in some of the more conservative towns that surround it. It does really bother me to smell it from the car next to me when I’m stopped at a light or driving 70 mph on the GSP. That seems to happen everywhere. 
But to get back on topic, I think the article is drawing a conclusion where it shouldn’t. Someone upthread posted that all of the habitual pot-smokers they know do it, in part, to manage anxiety. That has been my experience, too.