Where Do Candidates For New Jersey’s Next Governor Stand On Legalizing Marijuana Home Cultivation?

“Safe and responsible home growing should be part of our legal cannabis program in the state of New Jersey.”

By Sophie Nieto-Muñoz, New Jersey Monitor

New Jersey is one of the only states that legalized marijuana but doesn’t allow people to grow their own cannabis at home, and most of the candidates hoping to become our next governor want to change that.

In the six-person race to win the Democratic Party’s nomination to succeed Gov. Phil Murphy (D), four candidates said they’d support what’s referred to as home grow—letting people grow their own cannabis plants—for both recreational and medical cannabis users, while one Democrat said he’d support it just for medical cannabis.

On the Republican side, two candidates said they’d support home grow for medical marijuana users only, while two others support it for recreational users, too.

Former radio talk show host Bill Spadea, a Republican, said any adult should be able to grow cannabis at home, and that between three and six plants would be a “sweet spot.” Lawmakers should have allowed for home cultivation when they wrote the law setting up the recreational cannabis market four years ago, he said. 

“The challenge in New Jersey is that because of the regulations, the cost of legal pot is so much higher than what you get on the street that we have not solved the illicit drug trade,” Spadea told the New Jersey Monitor. “That’s the problem.”

Murphy, a Democrat, is barred from seeking a third term this year. Primary voters on June 10 will decide who the Democratic and Republican nominees will be for the November general election.

Since sales of recreational cannabis launched in 2022, hundreds of dispensaries have opened across the state, but cannabis prices remain some of the highest in the nation. Bipartisan legislation that would allow medical marijuana patients to grow cannabis at home has long stalled in the state Legislature as the Democrats who head the Senate and the Assembly say they oppose home grow.

Marijuana activist Chris Goldstein, who supports personal cannabis cultivation, said the next governor will play a key role in the cannabis economy. 

“Governors now appoint cannabis commissioners and even adjust taxes. Each candidate should have a clear picture for how they will grow and improve the programs,” Goldstein said.

Steve Kush, spokesman for Republican ex-state Sen. Ed Durr’s gubernatorial campaign, said Durr is more Libertarian on this issue than some of his rivals. He characterized Durr’s opinion on this as, “Grow it if you’re growing it for yourself. I don’t want you selling it on the street.”

Three candidates in the race for governor support allowing home grow for medical marijuana patients only: former state Sen. Steve Sweeney on the Democratic side and Republicans Mario Kranjac, a former mayor of Englewood Cliffs, and Jack Ciattarelli, a former assemblyman. Sweeney last week said allowing medical cannabis users to grow their own plants would help “keep the price more affordable.”

“Home cultivation was always going to be part of this process, it was essential to first establish a strong commercial foundation,” he said in a statement. “Now, several years into adult recreational use, it is time to allow home cultivation for medical patients.”

Ciattarelli agrees, cautioning that he wouldn’t want to disrupt the legal market.

“One thing we want to be careful about is not taking the carpet out from beneath the feet of people who’ve invested a whole lot of money because the Murphy administration failed to consider this particular dynamic,” Ciattarelli said in an interview. 

The four Democrats hoping to be our next governor who support home grow for recreational and medical cannabis are Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, Rep. Mikie Sherrill and teachers union chief Sean Spiller.

Baraka said if people are able to brew beer at home, “there is no reason they should not also be allowed to cultivate a small amount of cannabis for personal use.” 

Fulop said he’s been a longtime supporter of home grow for medicinal and recreational purposes. Nearly a dozen dispensaries are open in his city, though Fulop has earned the ire of some cannabis advocates by moving to fire police officers who test positive for marijuana, despite a state attorney general’s ordersaying cops are legally allowed to use cannabis while off duty.

“He believes the state’s cannabis industry must move toward a more competitive and accessible market and sees strong state leadership as key to improving access, ensuring fair pricing and strengthening the industry as a whole,” said Fulop campaign spokeswoman Emily Potoma.

Sherrill said she supports home cultivation for recreational and medical purposes with “common-sense regulations, safeguards and limits.” She said she’d work with stakeholders like law enforcement to ensure the state is “doing this in a thoughtful and safe way.”

Spiller said he sees “no reason” why New Jersey shouldn’t follow the steps of other states that have successfully implemented home grow for medical and recreational use.

“Safe and responsible home growing should be part of our legal cannabis program in the state of New Jersey,” he said.

Gubernatorial hopefuls Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-05) and state Sen. Jon Bramnick, a Union County Republican, did not respond to requests for comment.

This story was first published by New Jersey Monitor.

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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.