Cannabis in New Jersey

In 2013, New Jersey police made 24,765 arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana, the highest in two decades. The number of 2013 arrests was double that of 1993, when the state's population was smaller. The spike in arrest rates was at odds with the national trend, beginning in 2007, that saw a decline in arrests for marijuana possession.[3] New Jersey arrested 34,500 people on cannabis offenses in 2017, more than any other state in the nation.[4]

The maximum penalty for simple possession of 50 grams or less of marijuana is six months in jail and a fine. Few first-time offenders serve jail time.[3]

New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform is an advocacy coalition of "religious, civil rights, law enforcement and medical leaders" who support legalization of marijuana in the state.[5]

A report by New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform and New Jersey Policy Perspective, issued in 2016, concluded that if New Jersey legalized marijuana, it could generate about $300 million a year in sales tax revenue for the state. (The report assumed a sales tax of 25% and annual in-state marijuana sales of $1.2 billion.)[6]

Perennial candidate Ed Forchion —known as "NJ Weedman"—has been described by NJ.com as "one of New Jersey's best known marijuana legalization advocates."[7] Since the 1990s, Forchion has agitated for marijuana-law reform in the state.[7] In 2004, Forchion lost a bid to legally change his name to "NJ Weedman" after prosecutors intervened.[7] Forchion has been convicted of violating New Jersey's marijuana laws several times;[7] in 2015, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, affirmed one of his convictions, rejecting Forchion's contention that the criminalization of marijuana violated his constitutional rights under the state and federal constitutions.[8]

In 2015, Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics conducted a public opinion poll of New Jerseyans, asking whether they supported legalizing, taxing, and regulating the use of marijuana. Among respondents, 33% "strongly supported" the idea, 26% "somewhat supported" the idea, 12% "somewhat opposed" the idea, and 27% "strongly opposed" the idea.[9] A Reuters-Eagleton poll in 2018 showed similar results, with 58% supporting and 37% opposing the complete legalization of "the possession and personal use of recreational marijuana."[10]

On January 18, 2010, outgoing governor Jon Corzine signed a number of bills into law on his last day in office, including S. 119, the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, permitting the use of medical cannabis for persons with listed conditions: cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, seizure disorder, Lou Gehrig's disease, severe muscle spasms, muscular dystrophy, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease and any terminal illness (defined as an illness for which a physician certifies that the patient will die within one year).[11] The law allows the New Jersey health department to create rules to add other illnesses to the list.[11] The law did not allow patients to grow their own marijuana; instead, the plant must be acquired through "alternate treatment centers" licensed by the state.[11] Caregivers for patients are permitted to collect marijuana on behalf of the patient, but the caregiver must be designated and cleared by a criminal background check.[11]

Enrollment in the medical marijuana program was initially small, which was attributed to costs, the rigid limitations of the program, and "the small number of doctors willing to recommend patients," as well as resistance to the program by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who in 2014 called the medical program a "front for legalization" of marijuana.[12] In 2011, New Jersey was described as having the strictest medical marijuana law among the 16 states that at the time permitted medical marijuana.[13]

In 2013, the parents of a two-year-old with Dravet's syndrome confronted Christie, who signed a bill allowing access for sick children to medical marijuana[14] in what was later dubbed the "pot for tots" controversy.[14][15][16]

As of 2015, 5,540 patients were registered as part of the program, along with 355 caregivers authorized to buy on behalf of ill patients.[17] As of 2017, there were 11,659 qualified patients in the state, mostly adults.[18]

Under New Jersey's medical-marijuana law, up to a maximum of six alternate treatment centers receive contracts from the state. These centers, which must be nonprofit, have the exclusive right to produce and sell medical marijuana in New Jersey.[17][13] The first dispensary opened in December 2012 in Montclair.[19] By October 2015, four additional centers had opened, in Egg Harbor Township, Woodbridge, Bellmawr, and Cranbury.[17] In July 2017, the state issued a sixth and final permit, to the non-profit Harmony Foundation, allowing it to cultivate marijuana in Secaucus;[20] after receiving an additional permit, Harmony opened a dispensary in Secaucus in June 2018.[21]

Christie generally opposed efforts by advocates and legislators to add new illnesses to the list of qualifying conditions, but nevertheless in 2016 Christie signed into law a measure, sponsored by state Senator Joseph Vitale, that added post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of disorders making a patient eligible for the program.[22]

In 2017, the state Medicinal Marijuana Review Panel, in a 5–1 vote, recommended that a number of conditions be added to the list of medical marijuana-qualifying conditions in New Jersey, including migraines, Tourette syndrome, autism-related anxiety, and Alzheimer's disease-related anxiety, as well as chronic pain if "related to a broad range of ailments, including opioid use disorder, arthritis, back and neck pain, sciatica, diabetes, surgeries, injuries, neuropathy, Lyme disease, lupus, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, pancreatitis, and others."[18] However, the Review Panel rejected proposals to add asthma and chronic fatigue to the list.[18] The final determination on additions to the list is made by the state Health Commissioner.[18]

In 2018, the Legislature considered a bill to expand access to medical marijuana (S-10), edible forms of marijuana would be legalized for adult medical use; patients enrolled in New Jersey's medical marijuana program could possess up to 3 ounces (an increase from two ounces); and the permitting process for medical marijuana dispensaries, manufacturers, and cultivators would be expedited.[23] The bill would have allowed physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses to prescribe medical marijuana to patients.[24]

Ultimately, a separate medical marijuana expansion measure, the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act, passed the legislature and was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy in July 2019. The legislation greatly expanded the number of slots for medical cannabis providers; created a Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which took over supervision of the medical cannabis program from the state Health Department; made it easier to patients to obtain medical cannabis by reducing the required frequency of medical eligibility verifications from four times a year to once a year; allowed patients to purchase more cannabis at any given point (increasing the limit from 2 ounces to 3 ounces for 18 months, with limitations to be thereafter determined by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, and with no limit for terminally ill patients); authorized nursing homes and hospice centers to obtain cannabis from dispensaries on behalf of patients; and allowed medical cannabis patients from outside New Jersey to buy medicine while visiting New Jersey for up to six months.[25] The legislation and subsequent amendments also phased out the state sales tax levied on purchased of medical cannabis by registered patients at dispensaries, while allowing municipalities to levy a local transfer tax of up to 2%, which no municipality has chosen to do.[26]

In May 2017, state Senator Nicholas Scutari, a Democrat from Union, introduced legislation to legalize marijuana in New Jersey for recreational purposes.[27][28] Under Scutari's proposal, adults aged 21 and over in the state would be able to legally consume marijuana and to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana flower, plus 16 ounces of solid cannabis-infused products (i.e., edibles); 72 ounces of "liquid marijuana tinctures, drinks and oils," and seven grams of marijuana concentrate.[27][28] A state sales tax on marijuana products[28] would go from 7% in the first year to 10% in the second year, progressively rising by 5% per year until the tax level reached 25%.[27] "Unlike all of the eight states that already host recreational marijuana programs, New Jersey would not allow home cultivation."[28] Christie strongly opposed any legalization of marijuana, calling the legislation "beyond stupidity" and "nothing more than crazy liberals who want to say everything's OK,"[29] and said that he would veto any legalization bill.[30]

In 2018, after Christie left office, the Democratic-controlled state legislature again considered the Scutari legalization bill.[31] However "at least 15 competing marijuana bills, each with a different flavor and vision, have been proposed in the Assembly."[30] Current governor Phil Murphy supports legalization, and vowed to sign a legalization bill in a bid to raise $1.3 billion in revenue.[32] and fulfill a campaign pledge to sign a legalization bill within the first 100 days of his administration.[33]

Scutari introduced new legislation to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana for recreational purposes, the New Jersey Marijuana Legalization Act, on June 7, 2018. Stephen M. Sweeney is a consponsor.[34] In November 2018, a joint panel of the New Jersey Legislature (composed of assembly members and senators) passed S-2703, as well as separate legislation to expand the state's expungement process, including for drug offenses (S-3205).[23] Under S-2703, the possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana, and the consumption of marijuana in the home or designated areas would be become legal; a 12% state sales tax on marijuana would be imposed; and New Jersey municipalities would be given the power to choose to levy an additional 2% tax.[23]

The progress of the legalization bill was slowed by legislative gridlock.[35] Governor Murphy and Senate President Sweeney agreed that marijuana should be legalized, but disagree on details.[36] A small number of state Senate Democrats opposed legalization,[36] most vocally "a handful of African-American Democratic lawmakers who split with their party over legalization, arguing that it would be a public health menace to their communities."[37] Senator Ronald Rice was a leading opponent of legalization.[37] As a result of their opposition, the proponents of the legislation needed every other Senate Democrat, and possibly several Senate Republicans, in order to secure passage.[36]

Negotiations in December 2018 and January 2019 focused on the tax rate for marijuana sales and regulatory oversight.[38] In March 2019, the effort to legalize marijuana in New Jersey collapsed, as Murphy and Sweeney were unable to persuade a majority of senators to back the legislation.[37]

After the collapse of the 2018-19 efforts to legalize marijuana through the legislature, legislative leaders announced plans to place a marijuana referendum on the 2020 ballot. In New Jersey, a referendum can be placed on the ballot when the legislature votes to do so by a simple majority in two consecutive years, or a supermajority (60% in both houses) in one year.[24][41] On December 16, 2019, the bill was passed in both houses with a supermajority, which put the referendum on the 2020 ballot. It passed in the Assembly by a vote of 49–24 (with one abstention) and in the Senate by a vote of 24–16.[42]

On November 3, 2020, New Jersey voters approved New Jersey Public Question 1, an amendment to the state constitution to legalize the recreational use of cannabis by people ages 21 and older, with 67% voting yes and 33% voting no.[43] [44][45] The amendment provides for the state to establish a regulated market for the cultivation, distribution, and sale of cannabis.[43]

• Official website of the Medicinal Marijuana Program overseen by the New Jersey Department of Health