New Jersey to try again to legalize recreational cannabis

After the cancellation of the vote to legalize recreational cannabis last March, due to a lack of support from legislators, New Jersey announced its intention to try again to pass the law. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney is a long-time supporter of legalization. He had halted the effort in May, when it became clear that Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, Sweeney and other legislators would not be able to garner enough votes to pass the bill. New Jersey had, for want of a better word, drastically expanded access to medical cannabis last July, thanks to the efforts of Phil Murphy

Bill Caruso, cannabis industry advocate and founding member of the Social Justice Group New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform, agreed that’there was still hope that legislators would pass the law by the end of the year, as Sweeney and Murphy will continue their efforts in this direction. «They remain determined to make it happen,» said Caruso, a regular participant in these discussions, referring to Murphy's administration. The challenge for the leaders, however, will be the same as it was in the spring. To pass the bill, they will need 21 votes in the Senate, whereas they were only close to 18 or 19 votes in March. They will therefore need to convince other legislators if they hope to see their project adopted.

If it still fails, Sweeney said it would likely be up to the state's voters to decide whether to make recreational cannabis legal, on the November 2020 ballot. A referendum would constitute a constitutional amendment, which would be harder to change than a law. Such an initiative would give legislators more time to shape and regulate the new cannabis industry, and consolidate their position.

However, waiting for next year's elections also means that New Jersey residents probably won't be able to legally consume cannabis until early 2021, at the earliest. Thousands of people will continue to be arrested for drug offenses. New Jersey arrested 34,500 people for cannabis-related offenses in 2017, more than any other state in the country.