NJ Marijuana Arrests Could End Soon As Legalization Moves Forward

NEW JERSEY — Marijuana will be legal in New Jersey come Jan. 1, 2021. However, that doesn't mean you can't be arrested for marijuana before then, at least for now.

Now lawmakers are working to change that as they continue to take a number of steps toward legalizing and decriminalizing marijuana, nearly three weeks after the Garden State voted overwhelmingly in favor of it.

Activists, politicians, and even Gov. Phil Murphy himself have pushed for legalization in New Jersey, saying the cause is necessary to advance social justice.

The state Senate last week advanced a measure that would legalize possession of up to six ounces of marijuana – even though the Assembly postponed its vote last Monday, and did it again this week.

Lawmakers also hope to pass a measure to further decriminalize marijuana before legalization is supposed to take effect on Jan. 1.

Here's what lawmakers are doing:

Legalization progress

The Assembly and Senate are both reviewing a bill that would lay out that framework for legalization, and disagreements between Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin over an additional excise tax on recreational cannabis cultivators seems to have been resolved, Politico reported.

The bill must be passed in both the Senate and the Assembly in order for the use and sale of cannabis to be legalized.

Even so, Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, is calling on Sweeney and Coughlin to begin a racial and ethnic impact study on the bill.

"For too long, social justice and economic justice for people of color in New Jersey has been denied and/or delayed. Now that the legalization of adult use recreational marijuana has been approved by voters, some of my legislative colleagues are all but tripping over themselves to open the floodgates to marijuana sales and reward the lobbyists and investors at the center of this feeding frenzy," he wrote.

"But my colleagues need to take a breath and remember that legalization became a referendum because the bi-partisan majority of us could not in good faith pass it as legislation beneficial to New Jersey. It now needs to be gently, diligently shepherded into enactment with social justice unmistakably at its core," he continued.

One way to prioritize disproportionately impacted communities, according to Sweeney, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Nicholas Scutari and Senator Teresa Ruiz, is to dedicate state revenue to repairing them.

"... all state revenue from legalized adult-use cannabis should be dedicated to impacted communities to reverse the harmful effects of systemic racism in our criminal justice system, from arrest to sentencing to incarceration. Those drug laws, with their mandatory minimum sentences, destroyed the lives of too many people of color, and we need to ensure that those new revenues are dedicated where they can do the most good to revitalize our communities," they said, in a joint statement.

As fights for social justice to be at the forefront of S21 discussions continue, a bill Rice and Ruiz cosponsored advanced through the state Senate during a recent session.

Decriminalization

Another possible measure would allow possession of up to six ounces of marijuana in New Jersey without the threat of arrest.

A six ounce threshold for marijuana possession would be the highest of any American decriminalization bill to date.

READ MORE: NJ Senate Advances Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

The Assembly was also slated to vote on the measure, but delayed its vote. Assembly Democrats failed to reach a consensus, according to NJ Spotlight, largely because of an addition to the Senate version of the bill that would lessen penalties for other drugs like psilocybin mushrooms.

Not only does the bill decriminalize possession, but also first offenses for low-level distribution, a move that offers "individuals a second chance and ensure they do not become entangled in the system the first time they are caught selling small quantities of marijuana," said Ruiz.

Under the bill, distribution of up to one ounce would carry a civil penalty for the first offense and would be a fourth-degree crime for any subsequent offenses.

A new form of "virtual" expungement would also be created. Any arrest, charge, or conviction for certain marijuana offenses that occurred prior to the bill's effective date would be deemed not to have occurred, so there would be no need to petition the court for an expungement.

Until the Assembly votes and the governor signs the legislation, however, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said recently marijuana arrests would have to continue, for now.

"The Amendment, which makes clear that it does not legalize unregulated marijuana, takes effect on January 1, 2021, and requires the Legislature to enact a law establishing a regulatory scheme for legal cannabis. All of the state’s criminal laws relating to marijuana continue to apply, until, among other things, the Legislature enacts a law creating that regulatory framework," said Grewal, in a Nov. 4 statement.

Further, guidance from the state actually bans law enforcement officials from acting as though cannabis has already been decriminalized, but gives them a bit of leeway in dealing with low-level offenses.

"Law enforcement officers and prosecutors should exercise discretion, but cannot adopt blanket policies that de facto decriminalize marijuana, because doing so would not only impermissibly assume a role that belongs to the Legislature, but would also undermine the framework for legalized cannabis that the electorate approved," read guidance from Grewal.

Cannabis Regulatory Commission Takes Shape

Murphy recently announced his appointments to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), the agency that will help shape the future of legal weed in New Jersey.

Dianna Houenou, a senior policy advisor in Murphy's office and former ACLU-NJ counsel, was appointed as chair of the CRC. Jeff Brown, who currently serves as assistant commissioner of health in charge of the state's division of medicinal marijuana, was appointed as executive director.

The governor will also appoint Krista Nash as a member of the commission, upon the recommendation of Senate President Steve Sweeney.

The commission will be made up of five members appointed by the governor, with one each recommended by the state Senate president and Assembly speaker, according to a recent Patch report.

READ MORE: NJ Gets Ball Rolling On Marijuana Legalization After Election

According to New Jersey Globe, the New Jersey Legislative Latino Caucus has recommended five additional people for a position on the panel. They are: Milagros Camacho, Carmen Mendiola, Carmen G. Rodriguez, Jessica F. Gonzalez and Wilfredo Caraballo.

New Jersey Cooler Than New York?

It was the headline heard 'round the TriState Tuesday: "Finally, New Jersey Might Be Cooler Than New York."

The joke landed — and was met with an equally humorous clapback — but in actuality, the story was about one of the elephants in the room, what will legalization in New Jersey mean for New York (and yes, fine, Connecticut and Pennsylvania)?

According to Patch, the main side effect of legal weed in New Jersey could be a similar move in New York.

READ MORE: Legal Marijuana In NJ: What It Means For NYC

In a press conference the day after Election Day (part one), New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said there was an "opportunity to do the right thing" for lawmakers across the Hudson River.

So You Want To Work In Cannabis...

Now that New Jersey voters have legalized recreational marijuana, a multi-million-dollar green rush is expected to sweep the state over the next few years. Factor in an already booming medical marijuana program, and it adds up to a much-needed win for job seekers in the Garden State.

According to experts, launching a career in the legal marijuana industry may be easier than you think.

READ MORE: So You Want To Get A Marijuana Job In New Jersey: What To Know

With reporting from Eric Kiefer.