Lawmakers have reached a deal on a bill that will launch a legal marijuana industry in New Jersey, clearing a path for the bill to pass later this month.
“There is a deal,” Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, the sponsor of the marijuana legalization bill (S21) said Friday evening. “It’s been a long road and I’ll be happy when it’s done.”
The compromise puts one limit on licenses back into the legislation: The state can only give out 37 licenses for marijuana growers during the first two years of legalization.
It also dedicates 70% of the sales tax revenue, as well as all of the funds raised by a tax on cultivators, to funding restorative programs for legal aid, health care, mentoring and more in minority communities disproportionately affected by the drug war.
The first piece is a win for the Assembly and the second for the Senate. Disagreements on how to limit licensing and direct funds for social justice causes both led to delays in the process.