Legalization Watch: New Jersey
New Jersey couldn’t get legal cannabis done and had to push it to a ballot vote in November.
On the issue of marijuana legalization, the New Jersey state legislature decided to puff, puff, pass…the buck that is.
Despite being a priority of New Jersey’s Democratic governor Phil Murphy, who campaigned on the issue in 2017 and promised to pass a bill 3 years ago, the push for cannabis legalization in the Garden State has stalled out, in spite of the fact Murphy’s Democratic allies control the state house. Proponents in the state government couldn’t wrangle the votes necessary to pass the law, facing opposition from both Republicans and some Democrats who couldn’t agree on the details.
So instead of bringing a bill to a vote at the end of 2019—which was part of an initial delay in the spring when the first vote didn’t make it to the floor—the current plan being pushed by NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney and his powerful supporters is to put the issue to a ballot question for state residents to vote on instead in 2020. That was passed by the NJ state legislature on Dec. 16, 2019.
Per ballotpedia.org, the New Jersey Marijuana Legalization Amendment is now on the ballot in New Jersey as a “legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020,” and will read like this:
A “yes” vote supports this constitutional amendment to legalize the possession and use of marijuana for persons age 21 and older and legalize the cultivation, processing, and sale of retail marijuana.
A “no” vote opposes this constitutional amendment to legalize the possession and use of marijuana and the cultivation, processing, and sale of retail marijuana in New Jersey.
New Jersey currently allows for legal medical cannabis use, and Murphy’s administration has expanded the medical program in the past few years, allowing for more licensed medical dispensaries to open, expanding the list of doctors who can prescribe medical cannabis, and opening up the treatment options for non-fatal medical conditions.
But it’s hard to describe this as anything but a setback for Murphy’s administration. Though he worked to expunge the arrest records for New Jersey state prisoners serving time for low-level marijuana offenses, his campaign had marijuana legalization front and center among his legislative priorities. The state commissioned an investigative body to work with lawmakers from other states who’d passed recreational marijuana laws for advice on how best to implement the program, taxation best practices, and law enforcement and insurance impact. But more than three years into Murphy’s first term, and there’s still no concrete bill that can pass with a consensus and the required votes. Adding to the troubles, the Dems lost a number of seats that flipped Republican in the 2019 mid-term election, so that puts pressure to do a bi-partisan deal. Which, in America today—good luck!
Now the ballot question goes to the voters on Nov. 3, and with over 60 percent support according to recent polls, the measure is expected to pass, but there’s still time for supporters to screw up the whole process. We’ll have to wait and see how proponents and opponents battle this out in the media. Here’s an interactive map that shows cannabis legalization breakdown by each state so you can see how the issue is taking shape across the country. All eyes will be on New Jersey when the measure goes up for a vote.
Since NJ decided to punt on the issue, Illinois began recreational cannabis sales on January 1, 2020—and brought in over $11 million in sales that first week of the new year.