On the first day of October, Gov. Murphy predicted on Facebook Live that recreational marijuana use could be legal in New Jersey by Halloween.
"It's sooner than later … like Oct. 29," he said to a caller who asked a question asked repeatedly since Murphy said on the campaign trail a year ago that he would legalize marijuana as governor.
But that date might be tricky, since neither the state Senate nor the Assembly has scheduled committee votes or hearings, which typically are held before a bill comes to the floor.
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, a lawmaker and municipal prosecutor at the forefront of the legalization effort, sounded exasperated when asked last week about the October date. "Oh, I don't know," he said with a sigh and promised to call back. Then, two days later, he said: "It doesn't look that way, it just doesn't. It has to be put through committees … and now we have a distraction."