New Jersey Lawmakers Advance Revised Marijuana Sales Bill, With Floor Votes Expected This Week

About a month after New Jersey voters approved a marijuana legalization referendum, a key Senate committee on Monday advanced a newly revised bill to implement regulations for the program, with a floor vote expected on Thursday.

The panel also approved another piece of legislation to reduce penalties for possession of psilocybin mushrooms. That was originally included in a separate marijuana decriminalization bill, but it was removed amid controversy and instead made into its own standalone legislation.

Lawmakers quickly got to work crafting legislation that would set rules for the marijuana market following the ballot measure’s passage, and differing versions cleared appropriations panels in the Assembly and Senate last month. Leaders from both branches have since negotiated with one another and with Gov. Phil Murphy (D) to arrive at a unified approach.

Now the Senate Judiciary Committee has passed the resulting cannabis sales bill in a 6-5 vote.

Advocates have encouraged the legislature to swiftly enact cannabis sales regulations, but they’ve pushed back on the initial proposal that was introduced, arguing that it did not go far enough to address social equity and restorative justice for communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.

The new version seeks to address those concerns, but some activists say it is still inadequate.

It's all hands on deck, folks.

State lawmakers are expected to vote on S21/A21, the bill legalizing cannabis, on Thursday, 12/17.

Tell the NJ Legislature: we must make sure the final bill prioritizes + reinvests in communities hit hardest by prohibition.https://t.co/HZYkQVZfep

— ACLU of New Jersey (@ACLUNJ) December 11, 2020

The new bill includes Senate-supported provisions to allocate 70 percent of marijuana tax revenue to community reinvestment programs such as legal aid, workforce training and mentoring.

The Assembly secured a win as well, with negotiators agreeing to include the chamber’s proposal to cap cannabis cultivation licenses at 37 for the first two years. Activists want no caps, as they feel it would limit minority participation in the industry. Microgrow licenses for businesses with 10 or fewer employees would be uncapped.

Tax revenue would also go toward public education and law enforcement training, in addition to covering administrative costs.

“This is a historic step forward for New Jersey that will put us in the forefront of the reform movement,” Senate President Steve Sweeney (D) said in a press release. “We will now be able to move forward to correct social and legal injustices that have had a discriminatory impact on communities of color at the same time that marijuana is regulated and made legal for adults. 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.”

Today we have approved historic legislation that will act to implement the public #referendum approved by #voters on adult-use marijuana in NJ. Taking efforts to establish this legalized system will put our state at the forefront of the #reform movement.https://t.co/Vd9d4bO9uOpic.twitter.com/puNGXPiPq7

— Steve Sweeney (@NJSenatePres) December 14, 2020

The legislation does not create a special category of licenses for equity business applicants and continues to criminalize the act of growing small amounts of marijuana at home for one’s own consumption, which are points of contention for many legalization supporters.

In any case, the recent compromises between top lawmakers are clearing the path for floor votes, which are expected on Thursday. The Assembly is also expected to take up the separate bill to decriminalize marijuana possession on that day. The Senate approved it last month when it still had the psilocybin component attached.

In the meantime, the Assembly Appropriations Committee is set to vote on the revised legal sales implementation legislation on Tuesday.

After a deal was reached, Murphy, Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D), Senate Judiciary Chairman Nicholas Scutari (D) and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D) released a joint statement saying the legislation “will accomplish our shared goals of delivering restorative justice and ensuring that the communities most impacted by the War on Drugs see the economic benefits of the adult-use cannabis market.”

Last month, New Jerseyans voted overwhelmingly to legalize adult-use marijuana.

Today, I'm proud to announce an agreement with @NJSenatePres, @SpeakerCoughlin, @SenatorScutari, and @AnnetteQuijano on a framework for legalization to advance racial, social, and economic justice. pic.twitter.com/rpeqbyoMoT

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 4, 2020

Last night we agreed with the administration and other state leaders to provide the framework for the legalization of #marijuana. This #bill will deliver restorative justice & economic benefits to the communities most harmed by the #WaronDrugs. https://t.co/5Hy6NxcxwLpic.twitter.com/lj6MWh32Ea

— Steve Sweeney (@NJSenatePres) December 5, 2020

While the bill advanced on Monday, there was some debate during the hearing over provisions related to workplace and roadside drug testing. Several advocates also testified in favor of enhancing the legislation’s social equity components.

“The cannabis legalization bill advanced by the Senate’s Judiciary Committee today is testament to the hard work of advocates, community organizers, and faith leaders across New Jersey who fought to ensure that our state prioritizes reparations for communities of color as we launch this historic new cannabis market,” Rev. Charles Boyer, founding director of Salvation and Social Justice, said in a press release.

“Although there are several more provisions we would like to see, we cannot understate how far this has come,” he said. “While legislators initially tried to rush through a framework that perpetuated an oppressive status quo, today’s bill includes powerful elements that will promote racial justice as we legalize cannabis statewide—including a social equity excise tax and 70 percent of the sales tax that will directly fund community programs in parts of the state devastated by the drug war and lifts the caps for licenses after two years.”

At the hearing, Scutari emphasized the importance of passing this implementation legislation sooner rather than later.

He said failing to do so would mean that the state would “have a constitutional crisis like you’ve never seen before you’re going to have the constitution saying it’s legal,” yet there would be no regulations. “We’ll have shirked our responsibility to the public,” he said.

Prior to the compromise deal, Sweeney and other Democratic senators released another cannabis-related constitutional amendment that would go before voters. If approved, it would ensure that a majority of tax revenue from marijuana sales would go to communities most affected by cannabis criminalization, shielding the funds from being moved to other programs during the state’s annual budget process.

Meanwhile, as legislators work to advance the implementation bill, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal (D) is directing prosecutors to adjourn most marijuana possession cases until at least January 25. The day after the referendum vote, he issued initial guidance to prosecutors, encouraging them to use discretion when it comes to cannabis offenses that will soon be codified as legal.

Meanwhile, the psilocybin bill that’s advancing would not decriminalize the fungi, per se. But it would make low-level possession punishably by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail, rather than three to five years of incarceration. An Assembly committee approved that chamber’s version of the mushroom bill last week and it is set to receive a floor vote on Thursday.

Separately on Monday, the Senate Judiciary panel also approved legislation to revise “the restrictions that apply to ownership of or investment in a medical cannabis dispensary and other types of alternative treatment centers,” according to a summary.

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Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.

New Jersey Lawmakers Advance Marijuana Sales Bills After Voters Approve Legalization

A New Jersey Senate and Assembly committee approved identical bills on Monday to implement marijuana regulations following voter approval of an adult-use legalization referendum last week.

The Senate Judiciary Committee and Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee discussed the legislation, which was introduced on Friday. The Senate panel approved the bill in a 5-1 vote, with several abstentions, after debate over provisions concerning social equity, home cultivation and tax revenue allocation for law enforcement purposes.

A companion bill cleared the Assembly committee about an hour later.

Members of the Senate panel also took up and merged two bills to decriminalize cannabis in the short term. That passed as well. Meanwhile, the leader of the chamber is calling on the state attorney general to issue a directive to end prosecutions for low-level marijuana offenses.

Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D), chair of his Senate panel and sponsor of the legalization bill, called the drug war a “miserable failure” that has has a disparate impact on communities of color. He also argued that regulating cannabis would help quash the illicit market, generate needed tax revenue and free up law enforcement resources.

Under his bill—the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act—adults 21 and older would be allowed to purchase and possess up to an ounce of marijuana or five grams of concentrates. Retailers wouldn’t launch right away, but as the licensing system is set up, medical cannabis dispensaries would be able to sell marijuana products to adult consumers.

Local bans on cannabis shops would be permitted, but delivery services would be allowed statewide regardless of each jurisdiction’s policy. Retailers could also provide for on-site consumption with local approval. Home cultivation for personal use would be prohibited, unlike in most legal states.

These proposed regulations largely align with those included in a bill Scutari sponsored in the previous session that did not have enough votes to pass. The failure of the legislature to approve legalization led lawmakers to place the question of legalization before voters as a referendum.

“The people have spoken. Many have decided that what I’ve been saying for over a decade is true,” the senator said. “We’ve had enough. Marijuana should not be something that we treat differently than alcohol—that we should regulate it. We should ensure the safety of our citizens. And we should make reasonable regulations so that we can achieve a product that is safe for our people’s ingestion.”

In the Senate committee, certain legislators and advocates argued that the social equity and restorative justice provisions of the legislation are insufficient. For example, they said the home grow ban and licensing caps are antithetical to the intent of the ballot measure. A representative of the ACLU New Jersey called for some tax revenue to be reinvested in communities most harmed by the drug war.

With marijuana legalization, we have a historic opportunity for racial and social justice. We have to do it right.   There are two hearings today, and two Thursday, on legalization and decriminalization.   Above all, these policies MUST address the harms of the drug war.

— ACLU of New Jersey (@ACLUNJ) November 9, 2020

The legalization bill needs 3 more things: -Investment in communities most harmed by the drug war – Ensuring access to licenses for people with marijuana records -Full funding for expungement   Call them right now. Then watch the hearings this week.https://t.co/sqSuEHYVs9

— ACLU of New Jersey (@ACLUNJ) November 9, 2020

The panel also discussed two separate bills to further decriminalize marijuana and provide a pathway for expungements for prior cannabis convictions. The Assembly approved a marijuana decriminalization bill in June.

The legalization legislation will now head to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee and Assembly Appropriations Committee—which last year advanced a cannabis expungements bill that was later signed into law—before arriving on the floor of either chamber. Hearings are scheduled for Thursday in both panels.

Over in the Assembly Committee, members and witnesses similarly discussed the social justice components of the chamber’s companion bill, with advocates calling for tax revenue to be earmarked for disadvantaged communities and for lawmakers to allow people to grow their own marijuana at home.

Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D), sponsor of the legislation, told activists, “I appreciate your voice on this issue and I am listening.”

"We strive to put forth legislation that will not only end cannabis prohibition but empower the communities that have been impacted the most." – @AnnetteQuijano on her bill guiding the regulation of adult use cannabis in New Jersey pic.twitter.com/sPjo1qj37d

— NJ Assembly Democrats (@njassemblydems) November 9, 2020

Chairman Joseph Danielsen (D) argued that despite the pushback from those testifying, the proposal is “one of the most creative, progressive bills in the country” and that it would “be hard for any state to do better than we have.”

On home cultivation, the chairman predicted that “New Jersey will get there at some point in the future—just not today.”

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE PASSES @AnnetteQuijano, @jamelholley, @AswTimberlake, @AswMcKnight, @DANIELSEN & @WIMBERLY BILL GUIDING REGULATION OF ADULT-USE CANNABIS IN NEW JERSEY https://t.co/uCBgBG03KH

— NJ Assembly Democrats (@njassemblydems) November 9, 2020

Gov. Phil Murphy (D), who strongly advocated for the legalization referendum, appointed Dianna Houenou, a current administration staffer and former policy counsel to the ACLU of New Jersey, to head the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) on Friday. She emphasized the social justice would be a key regulatory priority.

CRC would be responsible for granting licenses to growers, processors, wholesalers, laboratory testing facilities, distributors, delivery services and retailers.

But as those are set up, the bill will let medical cannabis dispensaries sell marijuana products for the recreational market. Scutari proposed that plan last month, saying that adults could start purchasing cannabis from dispensaries within just weeks after the election. However, a top regulator pushed back on the proposal, noting that the state’s existing medical marijuana have already struggled to keep up with patient demand.

The senator addressed that issue in the legislation. His bill would allow each medical producer to open two more cultivation facilities to increase the available supply. “There’s no reason why, in the next 90 days, they can’t grow any more product and get it out on the shelves,” he told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview last week. “I mean, not saying they will, but they could—it’s not a physical impossibility.”

Also under the legislation, 15 percent of cannabis licenses would go to for minority-owned businesses, and an additional 15 percent would be given to businesses owned by women or veterans. If an applicant pledges to hire people from communities disproportionately impacted by crime or unemployment, they would get licensing priority.

Further, the bill would establish an Office of Minority, Disabled Veterans and Women Cannabis Business Development that would be tasked with promoting participation in the industry by marginalized groups.

The proposal would apply the state’s current sales tax rate of 6.6625 percent on adult-use marijuana sales, which is relatively low compared to other legal states. Individual municipalities could impose an additional two percent tax on the market. Revenue would go toward the implementation of the program, law enforcement for training purposes and the state’s general fund.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D) said on Monday that he will be pushing to add a recreational marijuana “user fee” to the legislation, saying it will “help reduce the financial burden on New Jersey’s taxpayers and specifically its urban communities.”

Now that residents have voted to #legalizemarijuana in NJ, the Legislature will be working on establishing the necessary regulatory infrastructure. Both the Assembly and Senate will hear testimony today on proposed cannabis legislation. Follow along: https://t.co/6s6HRdYUWkpic.twitter.com/5JJspnM5tg

— Speaker Craig Coughlin (@SpeakerCoughlin) November 9, 2020

Now that NJ has legalized recreational cannabis, we can grow our revenue base by imposing an additional user fee that will help reduce the financial burden on New Jersey's taxpayers and specifically its urban communities. I will work to include it in enabling legislation.

— Speaker Craig Coughlin (@SpeakerCoughlin) November 9, 2020

“The legal sale of cannabis will allow us to fairly address issues of criminal justice and provide needed revenue for our state,” Coughlin said in a statement. “The enabling legislation will ensure that this money is returned to our communities and that it is distributed fairly.”

Statement from @SpeakerCoughlin on Cannabis Enabling Legislationhttps://t.co/g0SHuG3ZeW

— NJ Assembly Democrats (@njassemblydems) November 9, 2020

Murphy wrote that he agreed with the speaker on the need to add additional marijuana taxes and thanked him for “prioritizing fairness throughout the process” of legislating on cannabis reform.

As we pursue adult-use marijuana legalization, we finally have an opportunity to raise revenue through an excise tax to invest in communities most harmed by the War on Drugs.

Thank you, @SpeakerCoughlin, for prioritizing fairness throughout this process. https://t.co/QUMXv2uqU1

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) November 9, 2020

But Senate President Steve Sweeney (D) joined Scutari and another senator in issuing a joint statement opposing any added taxes on cannabis sales.

“To further protect this revenue flow, we should not touch the voter-approved tax schedule,” they said. “We should not impose any additional taxes that will put the cost of legally purchasing marijuana out of reach for the communities that have been impacted the most.”

Meanwhile, as legislators work to advance the legalization enabling legislation, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal (D) is encouraging police and prosecutors to exercise discretion around marijuana offenses in the interim.

Sweeney said that the top prosecutor should “use his legal and moral authority to issue clear guidelines to all law enforcement authorities—state, county and municipal—to stop all arrests and suspend all pending criminal cases against individuals for possession of amounts of marijuana that would be considered personal use.”

“It’s time for these arrests that have disproportionately affected people of color to stop,” he said.

It is time for the @NewJerseyOAG to use both the legal & moral authority to issue protocols to all of our NJ’s law enforcement agencies. It is time to stop the arrests & suspend all pending cases against individuals for possession of personal #cannabis.https://t.co/mBtVN9es2mpic.twitter.com/tqJ7G5bPJQ

— Steve Sweeney (@NJSenatePres) November 9, 2020

He also said in response to the Senate committee vote that the action marks “an historic step forward for New Jersey.”

The #Senate took steps to implement the public referendum legalizing adult-use marijuana as approved by the #voters. Our legislation will take the necessary actions to create a regulatory system to oversee the operations of the cannabis industry in NJ.https://t.co/bNXHTLKyjt

— Steve Sweeney (@NJSenatePres) November 9, 2020

“With the public’s approval, we will be able to move forward to correct social and legal injustices that have had a discriminatory impact on communities of color at the same time that marijuana is regulated and made safe and legal for adults,” he said. “This represents a significant change in public policy that will have a real-life impact on social justice, law enforcement and the economy.”

Assemblyman Jamel Holley (D) similarly said last week that all low-level cannabis prosecutions should be ended, stating that the vote demonstrates that “there is no patience anymore for prosecuting people caught smoking and possessing marijuana.”

This article has been updated to include additional comments and information about the Assembly committee vote.

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Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.