New Jersey state Senator Nicholas Scutari (D-N.J.) says the Garden State will welcome New Yorkers with open arms once it legalizes recreational marijuana ー which could happen very soon.
"All the individuals that are within a stone's throw of New Jersey will be able to come over to New Jersey to buy legal product and consume legal product here, and we welcome them to come over and do that," Scutari said.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday announced he reached an agreement with state legislative leaders, including Scutari, on the broad outlines of recreational legalization. If the legislation passes ー and Scutari said he expects it to ー it would make New Jersey one of the few states in the U.S. to legalize marijuana through the legislative process, rather than by ballot iniative.
Kris Krane, New Jersey Cannabis Industry Association trustee and president of cannabis consulting firm 4Front Ventures, said that while "nothing is done until it's done," this bill represents an opportunity for New Jersey's state legislature to set an important example.
"It is important to note not a single state in the U.S. has yet fully legalized marijuana, including a commercial market, through the state legislature. So New Jersey is poised to potentially be the very first in the country to do so and it looks like they are well on track," Krane said.