Is today the day that a New Jersey medical marijuana expansion bill finally heads to Gov. Phil Murphy's desk?
The Assembly on Thursday approved the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act, a massive overhaul of the state's medical marijuana program, by a 66 to 5 vote, with six abstentions. The Senate is also scheduled to vote on the bill on Thursday
The newest version of the Honig Act, which cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, would legalize edible forms of medical marijuana and increase the amount patients are allowed to purchase each month, from 2 ounces to 3 ounces.
The bill would require patients to be recertified for the medical marijuana program every year, instead of quarterly, as is required under current law.
The Honig Act has been in flux for much of the last year. Legislative leaders originally planned for the bill to serve as companion legislation to a New Jersey marijuana legalization law.
But when that bill stalled out, the Honig Act began taking on over 50 pages of amendments — mostly cut-and-paste paragraphs from the marijuana legalization bill, with a few words changed to focus on medical marijuana.
