Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, likes that a recent draft of the legislation allows some people to get their arrests records cleared if they’ve successfully completed parole or probation, or finished serving time in prison. But he'd also like to see people still in the system cleared, and released if they're still incarcerated.
"If the political will is there to make sure that people in the future aren’t burdened with criminal records because of possession, then the political will should be there to do something about the people currently entangled in the criminal justice system," said Sinha.
Interest in the legislation is intense, especially within the marijuana industry, which views New Jersey — with its proximity to New York and Philadelphia — as a lucrative market that could generate billions in revenue. Gov. Phil Murphy and industry lobbyists have cited social justice as the leading reason to make marijuana legal. An ACLU report found blacks were three times more likely to be arrested than whites for using marijuana, and as much as eight times in some parts of the state. Murphy said making weed legal would halt such disparities, though it has not in other states.