A package of bills aimed at legalizing marijuana for recreational use in New Jersey cleared Assembly and Senate committees Monday night after a long day in which legislators and staffers scrambled to amend earlier drafts of the bill before getting to the committees for a vote.
More than 100 people turned out in Trenton to testify or watch what could be part of a historical process towards legalization, but many were disappointed to find the bills were not ready to go before the committees. Some speakers waited as long as six hours before the committees were ready to open their hearings, at which point, lawmakers limited testimony from the public.
The bills cleared both committees by 8:15 p.m., paving the way for a vote by the full General Assembly as early as Monday. Together, they would create a legal marijuana market in the Garden State, as well as a cannabis commission to regulate that industry, a taxing structure, and major revisions of how marijuana possession and distribution are treated by the justice system. The proposed bill sets the state tax rate at $42 an ounce and allows people with marijuana convictions to apply to have their records expunged so long as their crimes did not involve more than five pounds of weed.