Law New Jersey

[Baron23]

What does N.J. say to legal recreational weed? New poll has answers

Most New Jersey residents still aren't quite sold on legalizing the sale and use of weed for recreational use, even though more than two-thirds want to see changes made to the state's marijuana laws, according to a new statewide survey, obtained exclusively by NJ Advance Media.

Just 42 percent of those polled believe the state should legalize weed for recreational use, according to a new poll taken by Fairleigh Dickinson University, even as Gov. Phil Murphy continues to champion the cause.

By comparison, a quarter of those surveyed (27 percent) said they supported restricting its sale only to medical use, while roughly another quarter (26 percent) said it should merely be decriminalized, treating it like a civil traffic infraction rather than an actual crime.

"Anyone who expected legalization to happen quickly and easily might reconsider given these findings," said Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of the FDU Poll.

Earlier this month, NJ Advance Media was first to report that the newly sworn-in Democratic governor faced significant opposition from members of his own party in the state Legislature.

A dozen Democratic state senators, including Senate Health Committee chairman Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, are opposed, many of them staunchly so.

Other Democrats, like state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, said they oppose recreational legalization because they feel a more cautious approach is in order.

"The response I am getting from local elected officials, school administrators, coaches, law enforcement and even fellow youth athletics coaches is the same," said Sarlo. "It's 'Explore the expansion of medical marijuana and decriminalization as a first baby step.' "




Murphy moves to expand access to NJ medical marijuana

The goal of the audit is to improve access for patients, who have encountered far too many bureaucratic hurdles in trying to participate, Gov. Murphy said.

The Garden State lags behind the national level of support for legalization of marijuana.

In a national NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll taken at the beginning of this year, 60 percent of Americans said they supported allowing adults to buy marijuana for personal use -- a rise of 5 percent from four years earlier.

Earlier this month, Vermont became the ninth state to approve recreational marijuana and the first to do so legislatively.

However, unlike bills percolating in New Jersey's Legislature, Vermont's new law does not allow for a commercial marijuana industry to be established there. Ind

Eight other states as well as the District of Columbia legalized weed with ballot initiatives, making the drug available legally to some 70 million people nationwide.

But in New Jersey, support for legalizing weed has been declining in recent years. In 2015, an FDU's poll found 49 percent of New Jerseyans said they favored the legalization of marijuana, with 46 percent opposed.

Meanwhile, the idea of marijuana stores popping up in Garden State neighborhoods is meeting with similarly mixed reaction.

The FDU Poll asked adults how they would feel if a store selling marijuana opened close by their homes.

On this, the public is evenly split: 49 percent said they would favor a weed shop opening nearby, while 43 percent said they would be opposed to it.

New Jersey could reap as much as $1 billion in annual tax revenue from legalizing marijuana, according to estimates by the Roseland law firm of Brach Eichler, which had two of its attorneys serve on Murphy's transition committee.

"Although many across the state are supportive of (tax) revenue coming from their neighborhoods, others approach the issue from a 'Not-In-My-Back-Yard' perspective," explained Jenkins.

The survey also found one rare area where Democrats, Republicans and Independents agree: If New Jersey legalizes marijuana, a majority of each group favors allowing low level marijuana offenders to have their criminal records cleared.

Eighty-three percent of Democrats feel simple possession offenses should be expunged, while almost two-thirds of Independents and slightly more than half of Republicans.

The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone January 24-28, 2018 among a random sample of 810 adults in New Jersey, with a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

 

[Baron23]

Home grow is very important, IMO. My state of MD does NOT allow home grow and we are paying, paying, paying through the nose for our MMJ.

Will New Jersey Marijuana Legalization Include Home Grow?
The Garden State seems to be gearing up to legalize weed. But will New Jersey marijuana legalization include home grow?


Will New Jersey marijuana legalization include home grow? As of now, the new governor of the state seems to only be insistent that adults be able to consume cannabis—not grow it.

“Marijuana legalization” doesn’t guarantee fully legal marijuana. Other states allow adults to grow small amounts of cannabis at home. Will New Jersey marijuana legalization allow home grow?

It’s far from certain.

What Legalization Should Do
New Jersey will almost certainly become the second state to legalize recreational marijuana without a ballot initiative.

But right now, Gov. Phil Murphy’s promise to allow adults 21 and over to use cannabis does not guarantee “home grow.”


This is a problem that needs fixing. Enter Reed Gusciora.

The state Assembly’s deputy leader, Gusciora wants to permit adults 21 and over to grow up to six cannabis plants at home.

“Looking at the marijuana laws in place in California, Oregon, Washington and the like, I thought that homegrown should be an essential element of the New Jersey law, too,” Gusciora told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Should. Absolutely. But will home-grow be written into marijuana law in New Jersey?


The “Problem” With Home Grow

The New Jersey state Assembly and Senate are considering several legalization efforts. Gusciora, who co-authored the state’s medical-marijuana legislation, introduced his home-grow amendment to a proposal in the lower house.

Yet it’s still unclear which effort will reach Murphy’s desk. Gusciora’s bill would allow New Jersey residents to grow up to six plants. But only indoors, and only in a “controlled environment.”

Why so serious? Anyone who’s followed marijuana legalization for any length of time is familiar with the arguments legalization opponents trot out. A favorite hobbyhorse is a canard that cannabis automatically equals crime.

The notion that a few marijuana plants in someone’s backyard will cause gangsters and crooks to behave as if a supply of unguarded gold bouillon appeared in the neighborhood is false.

What’s news is Gusciora, a prosecutor, is willing to admit it. The problem is his colleagues behave as if it were true.


“They have visions of kids jumping over fences to steal Mrs. Smith’s marijuana plants,” he told the paper.

What About Hemp?
Gusciora is also pushing a bill that would legalize hemp farming.

An earlier effort to allow New Jersey residents to cultivate the non-psychoactive plant, good for fiber and fuel, died in 2012. For that, you can thank Chris Christie.

The state’s famously reactionary former governor also vowed to block a hemp bill.

For this reason, the bill died along with other efforts to expand the state’s extremely limited medical marijuana law.

By most measures, New Jersey’s medical marijuana law is terrible. Restrictions are so tough that through the end of 2016, fewer than 12,500 patients were enrolled.

Patients must also be “re-assessed” to see if they’re still sick enough to use cannabis every 90 days. And plenty of sick people who could benefit from marijuana aren’t sick enough: Jersey is only one of three states where chronic or “intractable pain” is not a qualifying condition.

In the context of an opiate crisis that kills 60,000 people a year, rules like these are criminal.

Home grow could help. So will New Jersey marijuana legalization allow home grow? Maybe not. In order for marijuana legalization to live, home grow may have to die.

Final Hit: Will New Jersey Marijuana Legalization Include Home Grow?
Christie is gone, but neither hemp farming nor home grow is a sure thing. Neither is legalization itself.

A recent poll found only 42 percent support among voters for legalization. And in preparation for legal cannabis, several townships have prepared by laying plans to ban it—even before the issue goes to a vote.

If legalization looks like it’s stalling out, home grow may be one of the first “rights” to go by the board. Stupid? Yes. But that’s how marijuana is legalized.

 

[Baron23]

N.J. medical marijuana growers are ready to expand. Will Phil Murphy let them?


As New Jersey's first medicinal marijuana provider six years ago, the founder of Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair said he and his partners drained their bank accounts when lenders would not touch them. They tangled with a distrustful administration of then-Gov. Chris Christie before and after they opened.

Now that the state has a governor who is willing to expand the medical marijuana program and legalize recreational cannabis, Greenleaf's CEO Julio Valentin and other dispensary owners who took the early financial and legal risks say they are ready to step up and serve this growing market.

"I've proven myself before and I can do it again," Valentin said in a recent interview. "Just give me the opportunity to do what I do."

But despite Gov. Phil Murphy's support of cannabis, his administration delayed what many expected he would do right away: adopt a medical advisory panel's recommendation to add broad conditions like chronic pain and anxiety.

Doing so likely would have opened the door to thousands of patients. Murphy says he's waiting for the results of a 60-day audit of the medicinal program before he discusses his next move.

Murphy officials are concerned New Jersey's five dispensaries won't be able to meet the demands of a larger patient base beyond the nearly 16,000 people enrolled in the medical program, according to insiders privy to the conversations.




NJ Cannabis Insider: Get a free look at new premium product for marijuana industry

This will help people navigate what could be one of N.J.'s biggest economic opportunities in years.

Investors and entrepreneurs are pushing for a piece of the medicinal marijuana market once the audit is complete.

Dan Bryan, Murphy's spokesman, last week confirmed that new dispensaries will be added. Bryan did not specify whether this meant permitting existing operators to open satellite locations, licensing new growers, or both.

"Governor Murphy remains committed to expanding New Jersey's medical marijuana program and eliminating unnecessary barriers to access for patients who currently are not able to obtain medical marijuana treatments in the state," Bryan said. "Gov. Murphy is committed to doing everything within his authority to modernize the program, a process that will include opening new dispensaries in the state as the need for medical marijuana expands."

Bill Caruso, a founding member of the pro-legalization group, New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform and a lobbyist for an aspiring grower, said he agrees with the governor's decision "to pump the brakes."

"They are worried about what happened in Nevada," where medicinal dispensaries ran out of supply almost immediately after recreational marijuana was legalized on July 1. "We have only six dispensaries -- not even six."

New Jersey has five dispensaries; a sixth, Foundation Harmony in Secaucus, is expected to open in early spring, a spokeswoman said last week.

Caruso said he expects Murphy will approve an expansion for both veterans and newcomers to the medicinal program.

Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, said he understands both the Murphy administration reticence and the frustration of dispensary owners and patients.

"They want to encourage competition for quality and cost, but they don't want to create an environment where there are too many dispensaries," Vitale said.

"New conditions should be approved immediately" so patients and their physicians can start the process of applying to the program, he added.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, introduced a bill on Thursday that would address several of Murphy's concerns with the state's medical marijuana program. Among other provisions, the bill would triple the number of dispensaries, allow patients to buy edibles and other products, and it would add chronic pain to the list of qualifying conditions.

Kris Krane, CEO of 4Front Ventures, a cannabis investment and management firm, predicts New Jersey will use an expanded medical marijuana program to help launch its recreational market later on.

States that used medical dispensaries to help the expansion into a recreational market have had the most success, while other states that tried to start a recreational market from scratch struggled in the beginning, said Krane, board of trustees member of the New Jersey Cannabis Industry Association.

"You can kind of kill two birds with one stone here by doing the morally important thing...while building the infrastructure" for a recreational market, he said.

After years of living under the most restrictive medical marijuana program in the nation, dispensary owners says they are anxious to demonstrate what they can offer.

Aaron Epstein, general manager of Garden State Dispensary in Woodbridge, said the facility has an additional 20,000 square feet of space that could be used to increase production. He also has an agreement for another cultivation site. He wouldn't provide specifics on either plan, saying it was too early to comment.

"We're currently planning to be able to handle increased demand," Epstein said during a recent tour. "We're hoping sometime within the next month and half we see these expanded conditions, we see some of these barriers to entry eliminated and we see a lot of progress in moving this industry forward."

David Knowlton, board president for Compassionate Care Foundation of Egg Harbor, said they have room inside their 80,000 square-foot facility to double their growth in 90 days, and "double it again in another 90 days.

The dispensary owners recently met with Deputy Health Commissioner Jackie Cornell at her request, Knowlton said, to talk about meeting increased demand.

"They were very responsive, collegial and problem-solving," Knowlton added.

Some patients say they are eager for change.

"I wait on a line now at my dispensary and when I get to the counter, they are usually out of the strain that I need," Edward Grimes of East Hanover, a registered patient and cannabis activist told, NJ Advance Media.

Amanda Hoffman of Summit, also a registered patient, said she is "fed-up with the utter nonsense" of the state's program.

"Current (dispensaries) cannot keep up with current patient traffic. We need the Department of Health Commissioner to sign those petitions on his desk ASAP, but we need more dispensaries and more options to support that anticipated patient growth," Hoffman added.

 

[Baron23]

NJ marijuana legalization: Cannabis users urge Middletown to back off weed ban

MIDDLETOWN - The township committee's gambit to prohibit the local sale and production of legalized marijuana is meant to compel the state to share more of the windfall tax revenue, but it could end up limiting access for people who would benefit from weed, cannabis advocates argue.

BERGMANN: 'NJ marijuana legalization all about the money'

"It's not all Cheech & Chong ... I don't live my life that way. I'm a father and a grandfather," said Richard Moroski, who uses medical marijuana to treat his multiple sclerosis. "I pay my taxes and I'm a good guy. I am the guy you want to stop on the side of the road in case you get a flat tire."

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The committee introduced an ordinance at this week's meeting that would ban "certain business uses associated with the growth, production and sale of recreational marijuana within the township of Middletown and establishing minimal conditional use standards for medical marijuana related facilities."

Afterward, they heard from a parade of cannabis proponents who shared deeply personal stories of how the drug has changed their lives for the better. Watch the video above for a flavor of what was discussed.

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Vincent DiGioia-Laird, a North Middletown resident, tells the township committee about how medical marijuana saved his life. The township introduced an ordinance to ban all marijuana-related businesses while the state continues to debate the legalization of the drug. (Photo: Russ Zimmer / staff)

Vincent DiGioia-Laird, a North Middletown resident who owns an online cannabis paraphernalia shop, said he owes his life to the plant. He was a heroin addict.

Suffering from intractable back pain, DiGioia-Laird was put on opioid pain management plan which led him down a path of darkness. He now treats his continuing pain with cannabis.

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"Demerol was what brought me to heroin. Then my doctor cut me off. Well, my body doesn't know the difference between legal heroin (the pills he was prescribed) and heroin off the street. So I started using heroin," he told the committee. "I was homeless in Penn Station for almost a year and a half, eating out of trash cans, doing whatever it took to get one more. The reason why I am clean today is because of cannabis."

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The discourse was almost entirely genial. Colleen Begley, who came from Burlington County to ask the committee to reconsider, even led a round of applause for police officers in the room – several were present for a swearing-in ceremony at the start of the meeting.

Marijuana is seen at the True Harvest growing facility in Phoenix on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. True Harvest has renovated a former Revlon makeup factory into a massive marijuana farm supplying Arizona's medical-marijuana program. David Wallace/The Republic
While the township committee pressed ahead with a proposal to ban legal weed related businesses across Middletown, it did leave the door open to dropping some or all of the prohibition should the state share more tax revenues with municipalities.

Committeeman Tony Fiore reiterated that the township doesn't intend to take action on the ordinance until it gets a look at the structure of the state's legalization bill.

"If the economics change, this may never see the light of day," Fiore said.

 

[Baron23]

Truly sad that this type of unalloyed fear mongering is still going on in 2018.


NJ marijuana legalization: Black lawmakers see nightmare vision of NJ high on legal weed
New Jersey's black lawmakers, who may decide whether marijuana becomes legal in the state, are hearing a dystopian vision of a society in which babies are exposed to pot smoke, teenagers munch on marijuana-laced foods in school cafeterias, and the leaf replaces tomatoes and blueberries as a symbol of Garden State agriculture.

With 19 members, all of them Democrats, the Legislative Black Caucus is taking on a high-profile role as lawmakers consider whether to make New Jersey the second state to legalize adult use of marijuana through legislation rather than a voter referendum. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy supports the idea.

Some black lawmakers are pushing back against Murphy's argument that legal marijuana would reduce disparities in drug-related arrests among white and non-white populations while freeing up police and prosecutors for more serious crimes. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, has said he plans to present Murphy with a legalization bill early in the governor's term.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, has taken a more skeptical position. With two full legalization bills already pending in the Legislature, the Assembly's Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee has scheduled a hearing on the issue March 5.

Marijuana businesses and their lobbyists have been descending on Trenton to argue their case. A forum for elected officials sponsored by the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association attracted some 400 people.

Led by Sen. Ronald Rice, a former Newark police detective who opposes legal marijuana, the Legislative Black Caucus has taken a skeptical view of the proposal. During a three-hour hearing in Jersey City — the first of three public forums the caucus is hosting on marijuana — only two of the 17 people who testified to the caucus favored the concept of legal marijuana.

(Photo: CANOPY GROWTH)

The others outlined a dark future of young and old marijuana users being injured on the job, barred from employment and progressing to harder drugs, while non-users fear driving among stoned motorists and even taking their children on neighborhood strolls in a haze of pot smoke.

"It will devastate the African-American community," Bishop Jethro James of Paradise Baptist Church in Newark told lawmakers at the first Legislative Black Caucus hearing on marijuana, held Wednesday, Feb. 21, in Jersey City. "It will devastate any chance of our children having a future."

Flemington attorney David Evans, a former public defender in Newark, said legal marijuana would be responsible for everything from mental illnesses to school cafeterias that reek of weed.

"Is legalizing marijuana going to improve the spiritual health of the people of New Jersey?" Evans asked. "I don't think so."

Eight states, beginning with Colorado and Washington in 2014, allow no-questions-asked marijuana use among adults, while sales in Vermont are due to begin later this year.

During the Jersey City hearing, anti-marijuana sentiment ran so thick that Rice admitted that the testimony appeared to be one-sided, though not by design, and one of the two pro-legalization speakers complained that the group appeared to be under the influence of "Reefer Madness."

"New Jersey may not say yes today, may not say yes tomorrow, but you can best believe it's going to come eventually," said Virgil Grant, who heads a cannabis trade association in Los Angeles, where marijuana has been legal for medical use since 1996 and for general adult use since the beginning of this year. "The question is: How do you want it to look in your town? Those are the questions you need to have, not the question of whether you don't want it."

With most Republican lawmakers opposed to legalizing marijuana, the fate of the drug in New Jersey may rest with African-American lawmakers, who account for 19 of the 76 Democrats in the Assembly and Senate.

Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, D-Hudson, who attended the Jersey City hearing, said afterward that she was struck by testimony about children smelling marijuana smoke while walking in Colorado neighborhoods and being exposed to the drug through pot-laced candy.

"I believe this hearing opened up all of our minds and introduced new issues," said McKnight, who said she remains undecided about whether New Jersey should allow marijuana sales and use.

Rice, who organized the three Legislative Black Caucus forums on marijuana with his staff, consulted a Virginia-based anti-legalization nonprofit, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which helped provide speakers. Rice said he's not pushing an anti-legalization message to his members so much as apprising them of arguments on both sides, even though his own position is clear. He advocates lifting criminal penalties for people caught with small amounts of marijuana, while keeping laws against growing and selling the drug.

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The hearing "reinforced the fact that we need to look at decriminalization, not legalization," Rice said in an interview afterward.

Dianna Houenou attended the hearing as a leader of the pro-legalization New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform but was not given an opportunity to address lawmakers. She said many of the speakers offered misleading arguments against marijuana that went unrebutted, but she said she expects lawmakers to examine both sides of the issue.

"We believe the facts are on our side," Houenou said.

 

[Baron23]

Still seems very uncertain what will happen in NJ.

Big problem for legal weed looming in N.J. Senate, NJ Cannabis Insider survey finds

If the state Senate were to vote today on whether New Jersey should legalize marijuana for recreational use, the bill would fail, according to a survey by NJ Cannabis Insider, a new NJ Advance Media publication.

Only five members of the 40-member Senate said they would vote yes when reached by telephone, in person and by email over the past three weeks.

Another 20 members said they would vote no, while 15 said they were undecided or did not respond.

The full list of how state lawmakers stand can be found in the free sample issue of the Cannabis Insider.

The measure needs 21 votes to pass the Senate, then 41 votes to clear the 80-member state Assembly.

Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat who ran on a campaign platform that promoted legalizing cannabis, has said he would sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk.

But a vote is not imminent. State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, the lead sponsor of the marijuana legalization and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has not yet scheduled a hearing on the bill, (S830).

As of Monday, Scutari said he remains undecided whether he will make changes to the current version, which he carried over from the last legislative session that ended in mid-January.

Scutari and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, have said they remain confident they will have enough votes when the time comes. But they have backed off an early prediction that they Democrats, which control the state Legislature and the executive branch, would get it done in the first 100 days of Murphy's term.

Legislative sources who spoke to NJ Advance Media and requested anonymity to share lawmakers' private conversations said some members do not want to reveal their thoughts before a final bill is presented or hearings are held, in order to negotiate its terms.

Meanwhile, the Murphy administration is more than halfway through a 60-day evaluation of the state's medicinal marijuana program, which many patients say is too cumbersome, restrictive and expensive.

In announcing the audit on Jan. 23, Murphy said he was considering expanding the number of dispensaries, permitting home delivery and allowing doctors to recommend patients be permitted to buy more than two ounces a month.

Legalization foes are also mobilizing. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by state Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, introduced a bill earlier this month that would decriminalize pot possession of no more than 10 grams. The bill would also expedite the expungement of past marijuana possession arrests.

Sweeney, who controls which bills are scheduled for hearings and floor votes, would have to permit the decriminalization bill to proceed. A source close to Sweeney said he was unlikely to allow Rice's bill to compete with legalization measure.

 

[Baron23]

Will New Jersey congressional leaders hop on the marijuana legalization train?


TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The chatter at New Jersey’s annual power-player cocktail party shed light on what the state government is up to.

Specifically, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy could be on a collision course with lawmakers who question the need to raise taxes on millionaires.

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Legalizing marijuana was also a major topic, with legislators hesitant to announce their support for the Murphy campaign pledge.

Murphy and the state’s congressional delegation also showed unity over the Gateway tunnel, offshore drilling and state and local tax deductions.

The state Chamber of Commerce sponsored its 81st annual train ride and dinner party Thursday in Washington for its members, lobbyists and politicians.

 

[Baron23]

Might really belong in Misc Legalization thread....

Legalizing weed is 'not a matter of if, but when,' Booker tells NJ Cannabis Insider

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration's decision to step up enforcement of federal marijuana laws is a "tipping point" in the effort to legalize the drug nationally, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker told NJ Cannabis Insider.

Booker, D-N.J., said he has talked to a number of federal lawmakers of both parties, who come from states that have legalized the drug and are opposed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' announcement in January that the Justice Department once again would prosecute marijuana cases in states that have legalized the drug.

Under President Barack Obama, Justice officials said they would let states enforce their own laws while the federal agency focused on drug cartels, on transporting marijuana into states that have not legalized it, and on making sure legal marijuana businesses are not used as a cover for illegal activities, including selling other drugs.

"For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction," Booker said in an interview. "More Republicans are saying, 'Let the states do what they want to do.' This is a really important tipping point."




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Booker has introduced legislation to remove the federal prohibition on marijuana, leaving it solely up to the states to decide whether to legalize it. More than 40 states currently allow the use of marijuana for medical or personal use.

So far, only two senators, both Democrats, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, have signed onto Booker's Marijuana Justice Act. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., has introduced similar legislation in the House, which has attracted 24 Democratic sponsors, including Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-10th Dist.

Booker said he doesn't expect any Republicans to co-sponsor the bill in the current Congress, but that could change after the 2018 election.

"More and more senators are coming to me and want to sign on," Booker said. "There's more energy and growing energy."

He said he is trying to get a hearing on his bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he recently joined. He said he has talked to the committee chairman, Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, whom he has worked with on efforts to overhaul the criminal justice system and provide alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, and the panel's ranking Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California.

Booker said that eventually the county will "end Prohibition for the second time" and marijuana will legalized. The first Prohibition was the ban on alcohol, enacted through the 18th amendment to the Constitution and repealed in the 21st.

"It will happen," Booker said. "It's not a matter of if, but when."

Are you interested in the N.J. cannabis industry? Subscribe here for exclusive insider information from NJ Cannabis Insider

 

[Baron23]

Today: New Jersey Assembly holds hearing on recreational marijuana legalization
It's the first action taken on marijuana in the Legislature's lower house since Democratic Speaker Craig Coughlin took over leadership of the chamber


TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s path to potentially legal recreational marijuana could take a turn soon with a legislative hearing scheduled, though legislators are expressing caution over the legalization, a key campaign promise of Gov. Phil Murphy.

The Assembly Oversight Committee is set to hear from experts Monday on cannabis legalization, the first action taken in the Assembly on marijuana since new Democratic Speaker Craig Coughlin took over leadership of the chamber this year.

“I’m going to let the committee do its work and I’m going to look at what they’ve done. Certainly on my own I’ll start to look at the issue and do what we can to get it right,” Coughlin said.

Monday’s hearing comes as the Democratic Murphy is drafting his first budget, which he will unveil later this month, and as he tries to make good on promises to ramp up education and pension spending. Murphy has estimated that marijuana legalization could bring in roughly $300 million in revenue for the state. That’s just a fraction of what he would need to finance his proposals, though the governor cautions that he won’t fulfill his pledges “overnight.”

Murphy made no mention of the campaign pledge to legalize marijuana during an address to the state’s business and political community Thursday in Washington.

The issue was the talk of the state Chamber of Commerce’s annual trip to Washington, where lobbyists, politicians and entrepreneurs pack an Amtrak train to talk shop. Among lawmakers, legalization got a tepid response. Some Democrats stopped short of backing legalization.

“I’m still researching it,” said Democratic Assemblywoman Annette Quijano. State Sen. Bob Gordon, a Democrat, said he’s a no, for now. Republicans look reluctant to get on board. Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. is opposed.

Other lawmakers, particularly Democratic state Sen. Ron Rice, are raising concerns. Rice says he favors decriminalization instead of full legalization.

Scott Rudder, who supports legalization and heads the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association, said he’s optimistic that lawmakers will come around.

And at least one influential Democratic lawmaker, Sen. Nicholas Scutari, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, has introduced legislation for legalization.

The legislation is identical to a measure introduced in the previous session that legalizes the recreational use of marijuana for those at least 21. It permits possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana, 16 ounces of marijuana-infused products in solids, 72 ounces in liquid form, 7 grams of concentrate and up to six immature plants.

The legislation would establish a Division of Marijuana Enforcement, charged with regulating the industry. The legislation also would establish a sales tax on marijuana that would rise incrementally from 7 percent to 25 percent over five years to encourage early participation, Scutari said.

The public’s view of legalization seems mixed. A February Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll showed 42 percent favor legalization, while roughly equal percentages of people backed either the status quo or only decriminalization. That poll surveyed 801 New Jersey residents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 points.

A September 2017 Quinnipiac University poll showed that 59 percent of residents approved of marijuana legalization. The poll surveyed 1,121 voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points.

Nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana. New Jersey has a medical marijuana program that Murphy has said he wants to expand

 

[Baron23]

Phil Murphy's play for NJ legal weed is no "slam dunk" as marijuana opponents rally

Running for governor last year, Phil Murphy generated great expectations for legal, recreational marijuana.

Ending the old war on marijuana was a way of ending a long-held social injustice, as Murphy pitched it to voters. Far more African-Americans were arrested and convicted under the laws criminalizing marijuana than whites, he argued.

And, by the way, new tax revenue from that legalized marijuana was also going to be a key part of the $1.3 billion that Murphy planned to raise to cover his big ambitions — expanded pre-school, an overhaul of NJ Transit, beefed up payments to the pension system.

Murphy had a sympathetic public and a Democratic Legislature in his corner. In the grand scheme of legislative challenges, this one seemed like it was going to be an easy lift for him now that he is governor.

It isn't turning out that way.

While New Jersey may be reliably blue state, African-American lawmakers, who saw their communities ravaged by heroin in the 1970s and the crack epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s, are wary about the legalization, even though blacks are arrested three times more than whites, despite similar rates of usage, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Mayors cast nightmare visions of long lines of pot buyers lining outside the doorway of dispensaries on Main Street or at a local strip shopping center. Even in liberal enclaves like Princeton, officials worry that dispensaries might drag down property values.

Others are calling for an interim step — lift the criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana but not for dealers, traffickers and growers. Critics point out that "decriminalization" of small amounts will not snuff out an illegal black market of dealers. If anything, it will flourish.

And those seeking a cautious, first step argue that the focus should be expanding and improving the state's medical marijuana program, which was tightly regulated and slowly rolled out under Gov. Chris Christie.

Rob Cressen, the former executive director of the Republican State Committee during former Gov. Christie Whitman and Christie's administrations, was struck with a rare neurological disorder in 2011, and has remained in constant pain. The once-burly athlete now gets around in a motorized wheel-chair.

"Simply put it's about liberty, the liberty for adults to make our own choices on how we medicate and how we recreate. Cannabis has saved me," said Cressen, told legislators at a Trenton hearing on Monday.

Cressen, who is on the board of directors of the New Jersey Cannabusiness Association, said he had to have someone drive him one-hour to a dispensary in Woodbridge to get his prescription.

On one level, the resistance and logjam of competing interests is reminder that New Jersey is rarely on the first or even second wave of social change. It's a cautious and moderate, and moves slowly into the future — even when there is lots of money to be made.

Eight states, beginning with Colorado and Washington in 2014, allow no-questions-asked marijuana use among adults, while sales in Vermont are due to begin later this year.

"The governor thought this was going to be a slam dunk," said Hope Mayor Timothy McDonough, the former president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities. "It's not going to be a slam dunk."

Yet, in some ways, the stakes for legalizing recreational marijuana have increased. While it enjoys the support of Senate President Stephen Sweeney, the Gloucester County Democrat, many Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are opposed or neutral on the issue. It would not pass the Senate if posted today, according to one recent tally.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, has also taken a less-than-enthusiastic posture, vowing to let all sides have their input before moving ahead.

Further complicating matters is that another Murphy priority, raising taxes on millionaires, appears to be in jeopardy. Sweeney whose relations with Murphy appear to be in a deep frost, says the tax hike should be a measure of "last resort." His opposition could kill it, and with it, the possibility of the raising up to $500 to $600 million,

In other words, Murphy is going to need revenue from legal marijuana sales to help if he is to present a balanced budget plan.

Murphy will show his hand next week when he rolls out his much-anticipated state budget for the fiscal year 2019. That budget could include how much his administration plans to collect from the new program. To some, the number, even a small amount — no one expects the state to collect $300 million on a brand-new program in the first year, given start-up delays — will be significant.

That budget number will give Murphy a starting point for negotiations with hesitant legislators. This early out, with only a vague outline of proposal to work with, lawmakers generally sit on the fence, leveraging their vote.

"Adding legalization to the budget process means this will be an item that will be negotiated in June,'' said Bill Caruso, a founding member of the pro-legalization group, New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform and a former executive director of the Assembly Democrats.

"If it isn’t in the budget, I‘m not signalling the legalization death knell, but It will make things more difficult,'' he said.

Caruso remains optimistic that Murphy and Legislature can get this passed by June. He recalled how Christie, a Republican, and the Democratic Legislature, shepherded through the seemingly impossible reorganization of the state's university medical school system in 2012. It was a goal that eluded three of his predecessors.

Road Warrior: Is there room for pot on NJ roads?

More: Murphy says he won't back off 'tax fairness,' his call for increase on top earners

More: Black lawmakers see nightmare vision of NJ high on legal weed

More: Gov. Phil Murphy focusing on guns, Gateway tunnel at Washington governors conference

That may be true, but Christie was at the height of his political power at that point, a governor who seized power and imposed strict party discipline on wavering Republican lawmakers. Christie and Sweeney collaborated on the deal. Their relations, on the whole, were warm. It was a bipartisan axis of power.

Murphy is new at Trenton's inside game. Sweeney is an old hand and may not be eager to help him out. Murphy created these expectations and now he's going to have to meet them, or face the fallout of a first-year flop.

 

[Baron23]

The Effort to Legalize Marijuana in New Jersey Has Officially Begun
Will lawmakers agree on a strategy for marijuana in New Jersey?

On Monday, the New Jersey legislature held its first hearing on cannabis since Governor Phil Murphy, who supports legalization, replaced the stridently anti-cannabis Chris Christie. It’s not that lawmakers aren’t working on bills to legalize marijuana in New Jersey. They are. But they have, so far, failed to bring any proposals to a vote. A bi-partisan consensus, it seems, has been hard to come by. And progress has stalled in large part thanks to civil society groups who’ve become increasingly vocal in their opposition to legalization. Nevertheless, Monday’s hearing represents an official start to the effort to legalize marijuana in New Jersey.

The Effort To Legalize Marijuana In New Jersey Has Officially Begun
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (Dem.) won the governorship on a platform that centered progressive cannabis law reform. So when he assumed office on January 16, many believed legal unconditional cannabis use in New Jersey was a sure thing.

In his first week in office, Murphy signed an executive order to improve access to medical marijuana. The move signaled that Murphy was serious about overhauling the state’s laws concerning cannabis.

A month into Gov. Murphy’s term, however, legislative pushback against legalization and other significant reforms began to steer the state toward a compromise position. In mid-February, state senators began calling for decriminalization over legalization.

“This whole legalization stuff needs to slow down. I think folks need to listen to Sen. [Robert] Singer and myself, and people in the community,” said Sen Ronald Rice, a main sponsor of the compromise decriminalization bill.


The legislature’s prevarications gave anti-legalization advocates a chance to amplify their message on the local level. And before lawmakers under Gov. Murphy’s administration could even propose a vote on a bill, some New Jersey townships had already begun banning cannabis businesses.

It was amidst this atmosphere of sharp divides over legalization that Monday’s hearing took place. Before a public audience of more than 100 people, and convening more than a dozen experts, lawmakers officially began discussing the future of marijuana in New Jersey.

New Jersey Lawmakers “Starting With A Blank Slate”
Joe Danielsen (Dem.) called Monday’s hearing citing legalization as an issue “of great concern to the public”.

Chairman of the Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee, Danielsen said the committee would “start with a blank slate”.

With positions on cannabis legalization already so entrenched, it might be difficult to start over. But Monday’s hearing brought in experts on legalization from Colorado and Massachusetts, heard arguments for and against legalization, and took comments from the public.


At the hearing, topics ranged from social justice issues, legalization’s impact on children, the problems of the illicit marijuana market, and the future of the state’s restrictive medical cannabis program.

Sharp differences of opinion emerged, especially around the issues of tax revenue and industry regulation. Still, most of the speakers at Monday’s hearing expressed support for Gov. Murphy’s plan.

Final Hit: Legalizing Marijuana in New Jersey
No plans or promises for concrete action came out of Monday’s hearing. It’s the first of four such hearings Danielsen has scheduled throughout the state through May, kicking off a months-long study of the question of marijuana in New Jersey.

Whether and how the hearings will alter the proposals already in the works remains to be seen. But what counts is that the effort to legalize marijuana in New Jersey has officially begun.

The next hearing of the Assembly oversight committee will be on April 21 at Rowan University, followed by a third at Bergen Community College on May 12.

 

[Baron23]

6 things to know about the debate to make weed legal in N.J.

Payton Guion | NJ Advance Media
Nearly 150 people squeezed into a meeting room at the Statehouse in Trenton as the state officially opened the conversation on marijuana legalization.

More than a dozen advocates and lobbyists spoke in favor of legal weed, while a handful of others told the committee why recreational cannabis should be kept away from New Jersey.

Despite the opposing testimony, several common themes emerged at Monday hearing. Above all, marijuana legalization would have a major impact on the state. Here are six of the biggest takeaways from the hearing — the first of likely many to come.


1. All eyes are on New Jersey
People traveled far and wide to testify at the hearing on Monday. Rep. Dan Pabon, a Colorado state lawmaker, spoke to the committee, as did a Las Vegas police officer. Two people who helped craft marijuana policy in Massachusetts also testified. They were invited by the New Jersey Assembly's Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee.

Why would these people come to Trenton for a hearing not geared toward any specific piece of legislation? The answer was best summed up by Bill Caruso, an attorney with Archer Law in New Jersey and a pro-marijuana lobbyist.

"Jersey sits in the middle of phenomenal wealth, phenomenal population centers and phenomenal transportation systems," Caruso said, talking about the potential of a New Jersey marijuana industry.


2. Data collection will be key
Pabon, the pro-legal weed lawmaker from Colorado, lamented the lack of marijuana-related data in his state. Prior to legalization in 2014, Colorado didn't keep track of statistics like the number of people caught driving under the influence of marijuana.

Without a baseline, Pabon said, it's been hard to determine increases or decreases on things like the number of people driving while high. To that end, he told the New Jersey lawmakers they should start collecting data "tomorrow".

One the other side of the debate, Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an organization staunchly opposed to recreational cannabis, also said there's not enough data available at this point to know much about the proclaimed successes from states that have legalized cannabis.


3. There's a great deal of money to be made
Rarely a conversation about marijuana legalization in New Jersey passes without the discussion of money. Monday's hearing was no different.

The prevailing estimate is that New Jersey's recreational marijuana industry would be worth about $1 billion per year. Some testimony on Monday suggested that estimate could be low.

"It's not about college dorm rooms and Grateful Dead concerts anymore," Sabet said. "It's about Wall Street. It's about profits."

Bridget Hill-Zayat, a cannabis attorney with the Hoban Law Group in Philadelphia, told lawmakers that the recreational cannabis industry in the United States is already worth $10 billion per year. Should New Jersey legalize, that number would surely increase.


4. Forget Colorado -- New Jersey could be an industry leader
Federal prohibition of marijuana has meant that federal funding for cannabis research has been lacking over the last several decades. As states have started legalizing recreational marijuana, research has picked up, albeit slowly.

Caruso suggested that New Jersey, with its history in the pharmaceutical industry, should position itself to take a leading role in cannabis research.

"New Jersey sits on the precipice of doing something phenomenal," he said. "We have the ability to populate our labs again."

5. The black market is a problem
Todd Raybuck, a police officer from Las Vegas who is against legal weed, said that in the months since Nevada's recreational marijuana market went live last summer, said he's seen a significant increase in black market marijuana.

People in Nevada are allowed to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and Raybuck said this provides cover for street dealers who continue to operate on the Las Vegas Strip. But marijuana isn't the only substance he's seen increase on the streets.

"Cocaine seizures are up...without an increase in police activity," he said.

6. This is just the start of the debate
Before the hearing on Monday began, Assemblyman Joe Danielsen, D-Somerset, announced that there would be three more hearings in the coming weeks spread across the state. Hearings will be held in the northern, southern and central regions of the states, Danielsen said.

Two hearings have already been scheduled, starting with one on April 21 at Rowan University and another on May 12 at Bergen County Community College. The Central Jersey location has not been determined.

Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media
What happens next?
At the beginning of Monday's hearing, Danielsen was quick to point out that it wasn't being held in relation to a specific bill, even though recreational marijuana bills have been introduced in both the Assembly and the Senate.

Action on the bills in either house is expected to be on hold, at least until after a review of the state's medical marijuana program -- ordered by Gov. Phil Murphy -- is completed in the next several weeks.

 

[momofthegoons]

Pot Advocate Quizzes Police on Medical Marijuana Laws

CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) — Edward "Lefty" Grimes was in pain.

It had been an hour since he'd arrived at the Clifton police station with what should have been a straightforward question: Where could he legally smoke his medical marijuana? One officer on duty knew, but he was out on an assignment and couldn't be reached.

Meanwhile, Grimes, who suffers from back pain after a fall at work forced him to undergo multiple spine surgeries, was starting to hurt. He debated: Should he light up, and risk getting arrested? Or should he wait for the officer to return?

He decided to wait. Finally, more than an hour after Grimes first arrived, Lt. Favio Toyas returned. You can smoke outside by the ashtrays, he told Grimes after checking his patient identification card, apologizing for the delay.


"They don't run into this every day," Toyas said of his fellow officers.

But for Grimes, a self-styled medical marijuana advocate from East Hanover, it's a scene he knows all too well.

In the past four years, Grimes has visited more than 70 police departments across the state in an effort to educate officers about the guidelines for enforcing New Jersey's medical marijuana law. In encounters that he films and later posts to YouTube, police are generally civil but often do not know the guidelines or — in some cases — that medical cannabis is even legal in New Jersey.

"We're here to educate police so patients don't get arrested," said Grimes. "Unless an officer takes it upon himself to do the research, they don't know the law."

This is particularly concerning now, says advocates, because Gov. Phil Murphy and other state leaders are pushing to not only legalize recreational marijuana but also patients' access to New Jersey's existing medical marijuana program.


Murphy has ordered a review of the program, including how dispensary licenses are obtained, the allowable medical conditions and the various ways that medical marijuana can be ingested.

"Right now there are lines at dispensaries and they can't fulfill our needs," Grimes said. "If it's going to be legal, we need to worry about cannabis patients' rights first."

The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey has also called on the state to approve an additional 43 ailments for which patients can be treated with marijuana.

About 15,000 people are eligible to receive medical marijuana in New Jersey — far lower, says Murphy, than the number of patients in states like Michigan, which has a comparable population. If the coalition's list, which is under review, is approved, that number would grow, says executive director Ken Wolski.

"With a planned expansion, now is the time to look at training for police," said Wolski. "Police should be made aware of the rights of patients in New Jersey."

Grimes, 50, is an unlikely advocate. Though he sometimes wears suits and ties, he has also been known to sport T-shirts proclaiming, "Don't shoot me, I'm white," or "I'm recording you." Around his neck hangs a camera, which he tucks beneath his long, wavy hair. He's also known to have a cane in his left hand, which is how he got the nickname Lefty.

Grimes says he was inspired to act after attending a town hall hosted by then-Gov. Chris Christie.

Medical marijuana patients in New Jersey can smoke anywhere tobacco can be smoked in public.

But at the town hall, Grimes — who medicates every three hours for his back pain — said he asked a state police trooper where he could legally smoke cannabis. Rather than direct him to an appropriate location, Grimes said the officer threatened to arrest him if he lit up.


This encounter, says Grimes, occurred in 2014 — four years after medical marijuana was legalized in New Jersey and two years after the state Attorney General's Office issued guidelines to police outlining how they should enforce the state's program.

"After that we started to go to police departments to see if they all thought the same," Grimes said.

The result has been what Grimes calls the "Ignorance is No Excuse Tour," a series of videos posted to YouTube that show him and other patients approaching police around the state. Often, he will walk up to a desk officer, identify himself as a medical marijuana patient and ask where can legally smoke pot to medicate.

Reactions vary, from officers initially looking baffled to offering him — as happened in Mahwah — space in the station's lobby to roll a joint. In a couple of instances, he says, he has been threatened with arrest or blatantly ignored.

While police have been quicker to respond to him since he began his effort, he says on average he still waits about 20 minutes for an officer to answer him.

The problem, says advocates, is that while some officers may have been trained in the state's Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, or CUMMA, enforcement guidelines, there is no requirement that they receive this instruction.

They could not provide specific figures, but Grimes and other advocates say they are aware of medical marijuana patients who have been arrested by officers who were not familiar with the law.

Most of the time, the charges are dropped, unless the patient is found to be in possession of more marijuana than is allowed under state law or was smoking in an unauthorized location, according to the group Americans for Safe Access.


The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey has called for training for all state, county and local law enforcement officers.

The state and Bergen County Policemen's Benevolent Associations did not return requests for comment.

But a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office dismissed calls for police training.

"The Office of the Attorney General is not aware of concerns pertaining to the knowledge or enforcement of these guidelines that would necessitate training for law enforcement officers at this time," said Sharon Lauchaire, the office's acting communications director.

As he continues to advocate for training, a new front in Grimes' fight has emerged in recent months.

The debate over legalizing recreational marijuana has prompted some municipal officials to pre-emptively introduce or adopt bans on marijuana retail sales.

The Hasbrouck Heights and Garfield councils adopted bans in February, while Ramsey's council chose instead to limit sales to certain areas of town. Hawthorne is expected to vote on a ban on March 21.

These new restrictions have led Grimes to attend council meetings, where he has implored local officials to consider the patients he says will be affected by these bans.

"There are sick people in town that you don't see," he recently told the Garfield City Council. "They need dispensaries in town. Why would you want sick people to jump through more hoops?"

Currently there are five medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, with a sixth on the way.

Garfield's ban doesn't specifically address medical marijuana, but the city's mayor disagrees that a dispensary should be allowed. If patients need cannabis to treat their ailments, they can go to another town to buy it, he argues.


"I don't want to bring drugs into the heart of Garfield," Mayor Richard Rigoglioso said.

But Grimes argues cannabis can help patients.

Christian Velasquez, 25, of Dover, who joined Grimes when he recently visited the Clifton police department, credits the drug with allowing him to live a "normal and productive life."

With the help of marijuana, Valasquez, who also suffers from a back injury, said he was able to complete school and now goes to work every day.

Grimes himself has benefited from cannabis.

For 10 years, he says, he used opioids to treat his pain. It wasn't until he started using marijuana that he was able to wean himself off the medications, he said.

"I was in incredible pain and it got me off drugs," Grimes said. "Marijuana helps a lot of people get off pharmaceuticals."

The recent backlash to legalization, then, has him concerned.

"Towns are on a banning spree right now," he said. "I've never seen so much ignorance in my life."

 

[Baron23]

Phil Murphy wants legal weed law in N.J. by end of year

By Brent Johnson and Susan K. Livio

NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Gov. Phil Murphy wants state lawmakers to pass legislation legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana in New Jersey by the end of the year -- despite a lack of widespread support from lawmakers in his own party.

Murphy has included $60 million in tax revenue from legal pot in his first state budget proposal, which he unveiled Tuesday.

"I am committed to working with you to get this passed this year," the Democrat said in his budget address at the Statehouse in Trenton.

Bill Caruso, a lobbyist and a founder of NJ United for Marijuana Reform, told NJ Advance Media that Murphy administration officials expect marijuana legalization to have been passed by Jan. 1.




NJ Cannabis Insider: Get a free look at new premium product for marijuana industry

This will help people navigate what could be one of N.J.'s biggest economic opportunities in years.

Caruso said he anticipates the pot bill would be part of negotiations over the budget.

Murphy campaigned on bringing legal weed to the Garden State to drive up tax revenue for the state and cut down on incarceration rates.

But many state lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans alike, have either said they're opposed to the idea or undecided. NJ Cannabis Insider reported last month that if the bill to legalize marijuana went up for a vote now in the state Senate, it would fail.

The state Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, needs to pass the bill before Murphy can sign it.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, is in favor of the proposal. State Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, remains undecided.

During Murphy's remarks on cannabis Tuesday, Sweeney stood and applauded. Coughlin did not.

If the legalization bill does not pass, some advisers to Murphy will encourage him to push for a constitutional amendment asking voters whether they want legal pot, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The source is not authorized to speak publicly about Murphy's plans and requested anonymity.

Some lawmakers have introduced bipartisan compromise legislation to decriminalize marijuana -- in which those caught with small amounts would be fined, like traffic offenses.

But Murphy said in his speech Tuesday that doesn't go far enough.

"I greatly respect those in this chamber who have proposed decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, and I thank them for recognizing the importance of doing what's right and just for those who carry criminal records for past possession arrests," Murphy said.

"But decriminalization alone will not put the corner dealer out of business, it will not help us protect our kids, and it will not end the racial disparities we see," he added.

"If these are our goals -- as they must be -- then the only sensible option is the careful legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana sales to adults," Murphy continued.

State Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, said he was unhappy the governor outright rejected the legislation to decriminalize pot.

Rice -- who sponsors that bill -- has repeatedly criticized legalizing weed because it will bring more drugs to impoverished communities, and make minorities who are under 21 years old a target for arrest, which has been the case in Colorado.

"He's listening to policy people and money people around him but not people like myself," said Rice, a former police officer whose district includes Newark. "The governor and I ... we should go to Colorado and talk to people in the hood."

Sweeney said this week that he is also against the decriminalization bill, meaning it's unlikely to move forward.

State Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-Camden, said despite being "solidly on the fence" on legalizing marijuana, he appreciated how the governor explained it.

"I was very heartened to hear he started off where people like myself are -- with solid reservations as a father and as someone who has talked to thousands of kids across this state," Greenwald said. "I want to hear from this governor, what tipped it for him? What did he learn? What is the impact on children, on the brain, How do you do this in a safe way?"

Nine states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana. One of those states, Vermont, this year became the first to do so legislatively. All other states that have legalized marijuana did so through a ballot initiative.

New Jersey Responsible Approaches to Marijuana Policy, a group that opposes marijuana, said Tuesday that the tax revenues from legal pot "pale in comparison to the costs associated with drugged driving, more hospital admissions, increased law enforcement, lost tourism dollars, and other costs to our communities."

"The price of legalization as seen in other states -- including greater youth pot use, more car crashes, and more arrests of minorities -- is far too expensive for New Jersey communities," said Jeanette Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the group.

 

[Baron23]

Will legal weed come to N.J.? What to know about the latest proposal

Payton Guion | NJ Advance Media
Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday said he remains fully committed to legalizing recreational marijuana and pledged to get it done by the end of 2018.

The governor doesn't yet have enough support in Trenton, but with two prominent proposals now on the table, lawmakers will soon start their work on weed.

State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, whose plan hit the Senate in January, wants to allow adults in New Jersey to possess and use small amounts of marijuana. His plan also calls for commercial pot growers and sellers, and a government department tasked with regulating the industry.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, last week took that plan a step further by introducing his own version of the bill. While the basics of the two bills are similar, they diverge in several key areas. As the debate over marijuana legalization commences, these are the issues lawmakers will be wrangling over.

Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media
1. You could grow weed at home
Of the nine states that have legalized recreational weed, plus Washington D.C., only Washington state does not allow people to grow the plant at home. New Jersey could be the next to allow it.

Gusciora's plan would allow adults to grow up to six plants, three of which could be mature at any given time, as long as they are grown in a private, enclosed space. Scutari's bill doesn't allow home-grow, but the senator has told NJ Advance Media that he doesn't personally have an issue with it.

Some of the states that allow home-grow have run into problems. Kevin Bommer, deputy director of the Colorado Municipal League, is among those who oppose home-grow. Bommer said that Colorado has struggled to keep home-grown marijuana off the black market.


2. There could be hundreds of pot shops
If Gusciora's bill were to pass, there could be more than 400 dispensaries spread across the state. The plan allows as many as 10 shops in each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts, plus one additional retail location for the six existing medicinal marijuana dispensaries.

That proposal is a major increase from a previous draft of the bill, which called for 80 dispensaries. Experts widely criticized that plan, saying 80 wouldn't come close to meeting demand.

Scutari's bill did not establish a ceiling on the number of pot shops, calling on regulators to set a cap.

Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media
3. The state would get less tax revenue
Early projections estimate that New Jersey's recreational marijuana market could generate $1 billion per year in revenue. But how much of that the state sees is up to the tax rate.

Scutari's bill has the tax rate rising to 25 percent after several years, meaning the state would see $250 million on $1 billion in marijuana revenue.

Gusciora's bill ultimately would set the tax at 15 percent, which would result in $150 million in tax revenue for the state.


4. Fewer businesses would be involved
While there would be plenty of opportunities for people to open dispensaries, other businesses would be limited under Gusciora's plan, which only has three marijuana business classifications. They are producer-processors, retailers and transporters.

The bill calls for 15 producer-processor licenses, increasing to 25 after two years; 80 transporter licenses; and up to 400 retailer licenses.

States like Oregon have separate producer and processor licenses, and many more available licenses, meaning smaller companies can participate in the industry.

5. But minority-owned businesses would get a boost
Murphy repeated Tuesday that his main reason for wanting to legalize marijuana is to bring social justice to those negatively affected by existing marijuana laws. Gusciora's plan tries to do that in two ways: allowing people to expunge marijuana possession convictions and letting minority communities get a piece of the industry.

The new bill requires that at least 15 percent of producer-processor and retailer licenses are issued to minority-, women- or veteran-owned businesses.

Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media
6. The first shops could open sooner
The bill would create the Division of Marijuana Enforcement and give the division 18 months to establish the rules and regulations of a recreational marijuana industry. But New Jersey could see recreational marijuana sales sooner than that.

The six existing medical marijuana businesses in the state would be automatically eligible for both a producer-processor license and a retail license, as long as the recreational operation was established as a separate entity from the medical marijuana business.

The medical marijuana organizations that were to apply for recreational licenses would get licensed within six months, likely beating the other businesses to market by a year.

Where weed stands now
With the introduction of Gusciora's bill, state lawmakers now have two different plans for marijuana legalization to consider.

Scutari's bill is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee, seeing little action since it was introduced in January. The Gusciora bill is in the Assembly's oversight committee, which held a general hearing on marijuana legalization last week.

An exact timeline on marijuana is unclear at this point, but with Murphy pushing for legislation by the end of the year, the debate is likely to heat up in the coming months.

Scutari said he expects to work with Gusciora to reconcile the plans and present something to Murphy in the coming months.

 

[Baron23]

"says marijuana can be prescribed for “any medical condition diagnosed by a physician,” including symptoms resulting from medical treatments."​

Well, since life has been shown to be invariably fatal, everybody qualifies...yeah? LOL


Thousands more New Jersey patients could soon qualify for medical marijuana

Thousands more patients in New Jersey would be eligible to receive medical marijuana under a new bill that broadly defines qualifying conditions and vastly increases the number of dispensaries that can operate in the state.

Current law allows marijuana to be prescribed for a limited number of medical conditions such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

But legislation advanced Thursday by the Assembly health committee, a combination of A-3437 and A-3740, does away with that list and says marijuana can be prescribed for “any medical condition diagnosed by a physician,” including symptoms resulting from medical treatments.

“What we’re doing is lifting the restrictions and putting it in the patients’ and doctors’ hands,” said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, one of the sponsors of the state’s original medical marijuana legislation.

In addition to helping more patients get relief, supporters hope greater access will contribute to the fight against the state’s ongoing opioid epidemic.

“I believe it will save lives,” said Assemblyman Herb Conaway, D-Burlington, chair of the health committee and a practicing physician. “There’s at least empirical evidence in states that have increased access to marijuana… that opioid deaths come down. Now, we haven’t proven causation yet, but I think the correlation is compelling.”

The bill passed 6-2 with two abstentions and no Republican support.

The measure comes as Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is calling for an expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program and legalization of the drug for recreational use.

The $37.4 billion budget he proposed last week assumes $20 million in revenue from medical marijuana and another $60 million from taxing recreational marijuana sales.

New Jersey has five medical marijuana dispensaries and another that has been approved by state officials but has not opened.

Murphy has sided with advocates and patients who say the medical marijuana rules put in place under former Gov. Chris Christie are too restrictive, limiting the drug to just 15,000 patients and imposing a $200 registration fee on patients and caregivers.

Christie resisted the medical marijuana program, signed into law by his predecessor, and once called it a "front for legalization."

Recommendations from a review of the program that Murphy ordered earlier this year are due in the coming days, and lawmakers said they expect the bill they approved Thursday to be amended several times.

But in its current form, the measure would allow 12 marijuana cultivating and processing centers and 40 dispensaries to operate in New Jersey, Conaway said. That’s up from the current six “alternative treatment centers” that have licenses to perform those functions, only five of which are operational.

The bill would also:

• Remove the requirement that physicians enroll in a state registry before prescribing medical marijuana;
• Allow any patient, not just minors, to buy edible forms of marijuana;
• Eliminate the $200 registration fee for patients and caregivers; and
• Double the monthly limit on how much marijuana a patient can receive from two to four ounces.

Ken Wolski, executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey and a registered nurse, estimated Thursday that the number of medical marijuana patients could increase tenfold, to 150,000, within a year of the bill becoming law.

Most of that increase, he said, would likely come from people with chronic pain, which is not listed as a qualifying condition under current rules.

He and another member of the coalition, Peter Rosenfeld, urged lawmakers to expand the number of cultivators in the state even further and allow some home cultivation to help meet demand and push down the price of the drug.

“Don’t look for that anytime soon,” Conaway said of a provision allowing home cultivation.

On the other side of the debate, Assemblyman Brian Rumpf, R-Ocean, said the bill goes too far to expand access.

“My difficulty with the bill is it removes, basically, all safeguards by setting forth that any doctor may prescribe for any reason,” he said. “I truly believe that we need to be much more cautious when we’re dealing with the health and welfare of the people of the state.”

An expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program has a clearer path to passage than legalization of marijuana for recreational use, which is opposed by the Legislative Black Caucus and other key groups.

 

[Baron23]

Here's where 19 N.J. towns currently stand on legal weed

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Posted March 25, 2018 at 07:05 AM | Updated March 25, 2018 at 07:07 AM
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Payton Guion | NJ Advance Media
Marijuana legalization has been one of the hottest issues in New Jersey since Phil Murphy took over in Trenton this year. At first he said he'd get it done in 100 days. Last week he walked that back, saying he wanted legalization by the end of the year.

Despite a handful of plans from lawmakers, legalization is likely still months away -- if not more -- in New Jersey. But that hasn't stopped several towns from taking a position, even before they have any idea what the rules will be.

Has your town taken a stance? See below.


Towns that have already said No
The first towns listed are those that have already approved a measure that would ban or discourage marijuana businesses from locating within their borders. Some have tweaked their zoning laws, others have approved a blanket ban.


Berkeley

• County: Ocean County
• Population: 41,554
• Date passed: Jan. 22, 2018

Cranbury

• County: Middlesex County
• Population: 3,803
• Date passed: March 12, 2018

Garfield

• County: Bergen County
• Population: 31,456
• Date passed: Feb. 27, 2018

Hasbrouck Heights

• County: Bergen County
• Population: 12,124
• Date passed: Feb. 13, 2018

Hazlet

• County: Monmouth County
• Population: 20,108
• Date passed: Feb. 20, 2018

North Caldwell

• County: Essex County
• Population: 6,519
• Date passed: Feb. 27, 2018

Old Bridge

• County: Middlesex County
• Population: 66,573
• Date passed: The ordinance passed a first reading March 19, but still needs to pass a second reading before it is approved.

Point Pleasant Beach

• County: Ocean County
• Population: 4,594
• Date passed: Dec. 19, 2017

Spotswood

• County: Middlesex County
• Population: 8,418
• Date passed: Feb. 21, 2018. Spotswood's resolution doesn't outright ban marijuana businesses from the borough, but strongly opposes marijuana legalization.

Wall

• County: Monmouth County
• Population: 26,000
• Date passed: Feb. 28, 2018

Towns that might say no
Some towns in New Jersey have discussed banning marijuana, but haven't yet taken a final vote, while others have decided to wait and see what happens at the state level. See below for where these towns stand.

Chatham Township

• County: Morris County
• Population: 10,528
• Status: A ban has been introduced to the council and a final vote is expected on April 12.

Hawthorne

• County: Passaic County
• Population: 18,950
• Status: A vote was scheduled for Wednesday, but was moved to March 28 because of the weather.

Middletown

• County: Monmouth County
• Population: 65,995
• Status: An ordinance banning marijuana has been introduced, but it has not been scheduled for a final vote.

Oceanport

• County: Monmouth County
• Population: 5,763
• Status: An ordinance banning marijuana sales has been introduced, but has not been approved.

Parsippany-Troy Hills

• County: Morris County
• Population: 53,515
• Status: Similar to Spotswood, Parsippany is considering a resolution opposing marijuana legalization. The council was set to vote Tuesday, but it's unclear if the resolution was approved.

Seaside Heights

• County: Ocean County
• Population: 2,881
• Status: Seaside Heights officials were drafting a marijuana ban, but have taken a wait-and-see approach. The ordinance has not been introduced.

Toms River

• County: Ocean County
• Population: 91,133
• Status: Toms River introduced a marijuana ban in January, but it has since been tabled indefinitely.

Towns that have said they'd welcome weed
Of New Jerseys 565 municipalities, only two have publicly said that they want marijuana businesses.

Asbury Park

• County: Monmouth County
• Population: 15,850
• Context: Both the mayor and deputy mayor of the city have said they have no issue with marijuana businesses. Asbury's council has yet to approve any ordinance allowing marijuana in the city.

Jersey City

• County: Hudson County
• Population: 261,666
• Context: Mayor Steven Fulop has said he supports legalization and would be working with the public to craft zoning regulations that include marijuana businesses.

Three counties have weighed in
New Jersey is a home-rule state, meaning municipalities are largely able to chart their own courses. But when it comes to marijuana, three coastal counties have spoken out.

The opposition from both counties is largely symbolic, but it could encourage towns in those counties to take similar steps.

Monmouth County

• Population: 627,532
• Context: The Monmouth County Freeholders were the first county officials to publicly oppose marijuana, passing a resolution in January.

Ocean County

• Population: 586,166
• Context: Ocean County Freeholders followed their northern neighbors in February by passing a similar resolution opposing legalized marijuana and encouraging towns to ban it.

Cape May County

• Population: 95,404
• Context: The Cape May Freeholders approved a resolution opposing marijuana legalization on Feb. 13.

Status of recreational marijuana in NJ?
Days after Murphy said he wanted to legalize marijuana by the end of the year, state Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, said he thought lawmakers would be able to get it done by that deadline.

Scutari's plan has been sitting in the Senate since January and another bill was introduced in the Assembly earlier this month. Both proposals allow the possession and personal use of small amounts of marijuana, while also creating a regulated commercial cannabis marketplace. Before a plan could reach Murphy's desk, the two state legislative chambers would have to reach a compromise, which has yet to happen.

 

[Baron23]

New Jersey and adult-use marijuana—perfect together?

How gung ho is New Jersey’s proposed adult-use marijuana program?

With Gov. Phil Murphy estimating over $850 million in 2019 sales, the program will allow selling all cannabis products (flower, vape, concentrates and edibles), anyone over 21 to purchase an ounce of flower, 7 grams of “concentrate” and 16 ounces of edibles, and will license five types of marijuana-related businesses (MRBs): cultivation/manufacturing; processing; wholesaling; transporting and retailing.

Further, because the program would provide New Jersey’s existing medical MRBs with provisional adult-use licenses, current medical marijuana dispensaries could start selling adult-use marijuana within 180 days.

Beyond generating tens of millions of annual tax revenue, New Jersey’s adult-use marijuana program will decimate neighboring states’ medical marijuana programs.

Existing medical marijuana program and proposed adult-use legislation

Comprised of 15,000 registered patients and six “vertically integrated MRBs” (i.e., grower, processor and dispensary consolidated into one facility), New Jersey’s medical marijuana program is governed by its Department of Health pursuant to the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, N.J.S.A. 24:6I-1 et seq..

Presently pending before New Jersey’s legislature are two adult-use marijuana bills. Introduced on May 17, 2017, by Sen. Nicholas Scutari, Senate Bill S3195 has been before the Senate Judiciary Committee since January 2018. Introduced on March 12 by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, Bill No. A3581 is before the Assembly’s oversight committee which is holding general hearings.

Roughly similar, Bill S3195 and Bill A3581 differ on the following: first, although Bill S3195 does not provide for home marijuana growing, Bill A3581 allows adults to grow up to six plants, three of which could be mature at any given time. Second, Bill A3581 would allow more than 400 dispensaries statewide whereas Bill S3195 provides no defined number requiring regulators to establish a cap.

Third, while both have annual increasing tax rates, Bill S3195 tops out at 25 percent whereas Bill A3581 only rises to 15 percent. Fourth, Bill A3581 limits nondispensary MRBs license classification to 15 producer-processors (increasing to 25 after two years) and 80 transporters. Fifth, Bill A3581 has broader diversity aims requiring that at least 15 percent of cultivation/manufacturing, processing and retailing licenses be issued to minority-owned, women-owned or veteran-owned applicants.

Division of marijuana enforcement

Unlike the Department of Health-run medical marijuana program, both Bill S3195 and Bill A3581 propose creating a Division of Marijuana Enforcement (division) to govern New Jersey’s adult-use program. The governor will appoint the division’s director and the division’s powers and duties include regulating marijuana’s production, processing, transportation, sale, purchase and delivery.

The division is also empowered to adopt, amend or repeal regulations necessary to carry out act’s intent, grant, refuse, suspend, or cancel marijuana production processing and sale licenses, and permit transfer of licenses between persons.


The division has one-year from date of the act’s passage to adopt regulations encompassing areas including requiring that applicants be New Jersey residents for at least two years and establishing a competitive application process awarding licenses based on criteria including minority- or female-owned business status as defined in Section 3 of PL 1983c 482 (C. 52:32-19).

To prevent marketing of marijuana to minors, the division is also tasked with establishing packaging and branding regulations including ensuring items are packaged in “child-resistant containers,” prohibiting toys or cartoons or depicting a person under the legal age consuming marijuana, and limiting advertising to where there’s “reliable evidence that no more than 20 percent of audience is reasonably expected to be under 21″ and, if so, only running radio, television and internet advertising between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Application process and licenses

Bill S3195 provides for six classes of licensure: cultivation; processing; wholesaler; retailer; transportation; and handler (i.e., individual possessing, securing or selling marijuana at licensed MRBs). Following the act’s passage, the division shall determine maximum number of licenses for each class, within one year of act’s effective date begin accepting/processing applications and, within 90 days of each application’s receipt, either deny, or issue a license to, applicant.

Bill S3195 prohibits: any owner, shareholder, officer, or director of grower, processor, wholesaler or testing lab from owning or receiving any payment from a dispensary; any dispensary owner, stockholder or director from owning any cultivation, testing or manufacturing facility; and any person from holding more than three cultivation, testing, manufacturing or retailing licenses.

Adult-use marijuana’s purchase, use and employment implications

Purchasing adult-use marijuana is not limited to New Jersey residents and only requires a “state-issued photographic identification” like a driver’s license. Bill S3195 decriminalizes marijuana possession of up to 50 grams “immediately,” allows those arrested for possession to expunge their records, and prohibits police from using “marijuana odor” as an “reasonable articulable suspicion” of a crime.

Bill S3195 does not require employers to permit or accommodate marijuana use, consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, sale or growing in the workplace or affect employers’ ability to have policies prohibiting marijuana use or intoxication during work hours.

While nothing in Bill S3195 prevents a business or employer from prohibiting marijuana use on their property, employers are barred from refusing to hire, discharging or any other adverse employment action for cannabis use unless there is a rational basis for doing so reasonably related to employment.

Additionally, cannabis in the blood stream may not be the basis for penalizing individuals including denying medical care (ex., organ transplant) or refusing to enroll, employ or lease.

Taxation and national impact

Although no program has been launched nor has any statute or regulation been enacted, Gov. Murphy’s 2019 budget lists $60 million of anticipated adult-use tax revenue and neighboring states’ medical marijuana programs are bracing for a sales drought.

First, Bill S3195 “annually increasing state tax” is reasonable, will encourage the program to thrive and generate enormous tax revenue for New Jersey. Specifically, Bill S3195′s “adult-use sales tax” starts at 7 percent in year one, increases to 10 percent in year two, and jumps 5 percent per year until reaching a 25-percent maximum.

Reaching this 25-percent peak 49 months into its program’s inception, New Jersey’s rate falls squarely between Oregon’s 17 percent and Washington state’s 37 percent sales tax and fortifies the program’s steady growth.

Conversely, California kicked off its adult-use program with a 45 percent effective tax rate comprised of: a 15-percent “cannabis retail sales excise tax”; a cannabis cultivation tax of $9.25 per ounce of flowers and $2.75 per ounce of leaves; local and state taxes ranging from 7.75 percent-9.75 percent. Critics of California’s tax scheme fear that it will both impede the adult-use program’s rollout and encourage the black market to flourish.

Second, because it imposes no residency requirements on purchasing, New Jersey’s adult-use program will lure neighboring states’ residents, which, in turn, will detract from these states’ formative and modestly performing medical marijuana programs.

Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware only have medical marijuana programs—many of which bar edibles, pre-rolled joints and flower. Thus, beyond demanding visits to a doctor authorized to certify patients of having a specified “covered medical conditions,” being certified as having a “covered medical condition,” applying for and receiving a state-issue medical marijuana card, undergoing respective dispensaries on-boarding program, and paying application and doctors fees (which medical insurance doesn’t cover), these states offer limited product selections.

Because all of this can be avoided by merely crossing a bridge and presenting a valid driver’s license, and because a much greater product selection will be offered, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware will suffer massive medical marijuana sales loss to New Jersey’s adult-use program.

 

[Baron23]

New Jersey governor expands medical marijuana program after 8 years of hiccups

New Jersey’s eight-year-old medical marijuana program, long constrained by narrow regulations for growers, sellers, doctors, and patients alike, will expand under a series of changes announced Tuesday by Gov. Phil Murphy (D).

“The days of making residents jump through hoops are coming to an end. We will have a medical marijuana program that is compassionate, that is competitive, and that at long last meets the needs of patients,” Murphy said at a press conference to unveil the recommendations of a review panel he convened two months prior.

Murphy’s government will immediately expand the list of conditions eligible to be treated with prescription cannabis. He mentioned chronic pain disorders, anxiety, migraines, and Tourette’s Syndrome as conditions that are eligible for the drug instantly.

He also called on officials who oversee the list to allow medical marijuana to be used to treat opioid addiction, though that is not among the immediate changes. Early studies have shown promising results for treating opiod addiction with cannabis — an option scorned by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other old-school drug warriors in influential positions.

“I am hopeful that we will see medical marijuana as a weapon available to patients and physicians in the fight, preemptively, against our opioid epidemic,” Murphy said. “For all the money we’ve spent in this state to get at the root of this awful epidemic, the fact that the medical marijuana system has been gummed up is an obvious, potent weapon that’s been left on the table.”

The reviewers reportedly also want Murphy to invite more competition into the medical cannabis industry in the state by issuing new business licenses. Current law only allows six firms to operate in the state, and requires each of them to handle every aspect of their products from seed to sale.

The review also recommends offering new licenses just for retail sales or for cultivation, ending the vertical integration requirements of the existing system. They also call for opening new retail sites for the half-dozen firms already operating in the state.

Murphy also announced a steep drop in the fees patients pay to join the system, from $200 to $100 for most patients and as low as $20 for veterans and senior citizens.

The review also criticizes the requirement that doctors who wish to prescribe marijuana register with the state. The registry has artificially restricted access to the system by forcing patients to seek out another physician if their family doctor declined to get listed with the state system. Fewer than 600 of the state’s roughly 28,000 doctors are registered to prescribe the drug, according to NJ.com.

The list “served no legitimate purpose other than to put a mark on doctors and advance and amplify some of the stigma associated with this,” Murphy said Tuesday.

Murphy’s predecessor Chris Christie (R) took a sterner line on earlier attempts to expand medical marijuana offerings in the state. The state’s existing medical marijuana system launched at the end of former Gov. Jon Corzine’s (D) tenure, with Christie taking the oath of office a few days after Corzine signed the legislation.

When lawmakers sent Christie a bill to make it easier for children with debilitating conditions to access medical cannabis extracts tailored to their illnesses in 2013, he refused to sign it until the legislature altered some of the details. He eventually signed a revised version of the package, but used a line item veto to block a key piece of it.

He also signed off on adding post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of conditions for which marijuana can be prescribed, but resisted other proposals to widen eligibility. Where Murphy’s reviewers reportedly recommend adding more than three dozen conditions to the system, just six conditions were fully approved when Christie left office. (Seven others could trigger a pot prescription if a patient met additional conditions.)

Christie was a staunch opponent of legalizing recreational cannabis or even decriminalizing possession of it, resisting a number of other attempts to broaden access to medical weed there on the grounds that the changes would ease the road to full legalization in the future.

Murphy, by contrast, promised to make legalization a priority in his first 100 days in office. He’s got 30 days left on that self-imposed stopwatch — though it’s hard to imagine anyone in the state would hold a grudge if it takes a little longer.

 

[Baron23]

Here's what NJ thinks about Murphy's push to legalize marijuana

New Jersey residents are divided over legalizing marijuana, one of Gov. Phil Murphy's major campaign promises and priorities for the coming year.

A Stockton University poll released Wednesday found 49 percent of New Jerseyans said they were on board with expanding marijuana sales to adults 21 and older, while 44 percent opposed it and 5 percent said they were undecided.

"These poll results suggest there is not a consensus in New Jersey on whether marijuana should be made legal," said Michael W. Klein, interim executive director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton.

Nearly one in four pro-pot people said they were persuaded by the potential tax revenue it would generate, while 22 percent said marijuana is safer than alcohol, and 11 percent said it was safer than tobacco and other cigarettes.

Another 11 percent say they favored legalization because it would reduce law enforcement or prison costs, according to the poll.

One in four people said they would try pot for the first time or continue using it if it was legalized.

More than half of the opponents said they feared legalizing pot would cause health problems and create more addicts. Nearly one-quarter said they worried it would provide a gateway to harder drugs, the poll said.

Murphy's hope to sign a law legalizing weed has hit a snag, as some state senators -- including some fellow Democrats -- have informally said they will vote no. Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, has not yet scheduled any hearings on his bill to change the law.

On another big priority for Murphy, nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, support his hike taxes on New Jersey's millionaires, according to the poll. A total of 29 percent are against it and 3 percent are unsure.

The move would give the state about $765 million in new revenue.

But leaders of the Democrat-controlled state Legislature -- who would need to approve the hike -- have not embraced the proposal. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, has called is "absolutely last resort."

If they don't approve it, that would blow a hole in the budget, and lawmakers would have to find new ways to come up with revenue or cut government spending.

Murphy's budget for the year that begins July 1 also anticipates legalized marijuana generating $60 million in sales tax revenues and fees.

As for Murphy himself? Many still don't know what to think of the new governor, the poll said.

The survey found 40 percent of adults view Murphy favorably three months into his tenure, while 27 percent have unfavorable impressions.

But about 1 in 3 adults are uncertain about Murphy. Ten percent say they aren't familiar with the Democrat and 23 percent say they are unsure what to think.

Of those who said they were familiar with the governor, 39 percent rated his job performance as good or excellent, while 45 percent said it was fair or poor and 19 percent said they were unsure.

But New Jerseyans overall expressed misgivings about where the state is headed, with 45 percent saying New Jersey is on the wrong track, 36 percent saying it's on the right track and 19 percent are unsure.

The poll of 728 New Jersey adults was conducted via phone by the Stockton Polling Institute of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 3.65 percentage points.