The Assembly version of the expungement legislation would allow individuals with prior convictions for using, possessing or distributing cannabis to petition the courts to get their records cleared. A version of the expungement legislation that began circulating on Friday had decriminalization language attached to it, but the Assembly Judiciary Committee stripped the provision from the bill during its own consideration and pulled the expungement legislation from its agenda entirely.
The Senate version of the expungement legislation, which the chamber’s Health and Human Services Committee approved, didn’t include a decriminalization provision. Sen. Joe Vitale (D) told reporters that the plan was to add the language before the full floor votes, which is expected to happen on Thursday.
“While the bill’s not perfect… this is still light years ahead of our present program, and it’s at a time when it’s exactly appropriate,” Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, the bill’s chief sponsor, said.
The action in the several committees comes come days after leading lawmakers said that adult-use legalization would be an issue decided by voters on the 2020 ballot, rather than through the legislature.
Senate President Steve Sweeney (D) said last week that his chamber would move forward on expanding New Jersey’s medical marijuana program and providing for expungements, but that it wouldn’t “pursue the legalization of adult use marijuana at this time.”