New Jersey's Revamped Legal Marijuana Bill Takes Leap Forward

NEW JERSEY — The bill that could usher in the age of legal marijuana in New Jersey took a major step forward on Monday.

The highly anticipated legislation, S-21, is needed before the state can start carrying out voters’ recent decision to legalize recreational cannabis. The amendment takes effect on Jan. 1, 2021, but weed will likely remain illegal if the framework isn’t in place by that time. READ MORE: NJ Gets Ball Rolling On Marijuana Legalization After Election

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill by a 6-5 margin. It will now head to the full Senate for a vote.

Much of the debate over New Jersey’s legal marijuana bill has been over a tricky question: how should the tax revenue be spent?

According to the bills’ sponsors, Senator Nicholas Scutari and Senate President Steve Sweeney, about 30 percent of the sales tax revenue from legal cannabis would fund the operations of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, the state board charged with overseeing New Jersey’s recreational and medical marijuana programs. That portion of the revenue would also pay for drug recognition expert training and equipment for state, county and municipal law enforcement departments.

The remaining 70 percent of the sales tax revenue – and 100 percent of a “social equity excise fees” on cultivators – would aid “impact zones,” the communities hurt most by drug laws, Scutari and Sweeney said.

The demand for so-called “marijuana reparations,” which advocates have insisted become part of any legalization attempt, caused lawmakers to pull back from their first attempt to ram a cannabis bill through the Legislature. But lawmakers are hopeful the current version will address their demands for social justice.

“As a municipal prosecutor, I’ve seen the effects of the so-called ‘War on Drugs’ with failed laws that have a prejudicial impact on communities of color,” Scutari said Monday, echoing a charge that cannabis advocates and their families have been sounding for decades.

“Too many people are arrested, incarcerated and left with criminal records that disrupt and even destroy their lives,” Scutari said. “New Jersey can be a national leader in legalizing a once-stigmatized drug.”

Social justice advocates have called for a final bill that also includes funding for expungement programs and protections for employees who might face discriminatory workplace drug testing.

Other key details of the bill include:

• A cap on the number of cannabis facilities at 37 for the first 24 months after enactment of the legislation
• Municipalities would be allowed to prohibit marijuana businesses in their communities. Those that choose to allow them would be allowed to collect a 2 percent tax and retain the revenue.
• There will be business incentives for minorities, women and disabled veterans to help them participate in the industry

When a final legal framework is hammered out, New Jersey will be the largest state in the Northeast U.S. to legalize recreational marijuana. It’s expected to bring as many as 43,000 jobs to the Garden State.

• See related article: So You Want To Get A Marijuana Job In New Jersey: What To Know

“By implementing a regulated system that allows people age 21 and over to purchase limited amounts of marijuana for personal use we will bring marijuana out of the underground market where it can be controlled, regulated and taxed, just as alcohol has been for decades,” Scutari said.

“This is a historic step forward for New Jersey that will put us in the forefront of the reform movement,” Sweeney said. “This represents a significant change in public policy that will have a real-life impact on social justice, law enforcement and the state’s economy.”

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