A recent bill, S-2702 — which was introduced to the state Senate by Senator Nicholas Scutari on June 7th, and would legalize marijuana for all adults over 21 — includes a provision about expungement, though it would still require an application. Advocates want this expungement to be automatic, where the state takes on the process of expunging records rather than the person charged. However Kate Bell, legislative council for the Marijuana Policy Project, says that the phrase “automatic” is very misleading.
SYNOPSIS
Legalizes possession, personal use, cultivation, manufacture and distribution of small amounts of marijuana for persons age 21 and over; creates Division of Marijuana Enforcement and licensing structure.
New Jersey lawmakers are set to consider legalizing marijuana this legislative session.
The most prominent legislative effort comes from Democratic state Sen. Nicholas Scutari, but a separate bill is also expected in the Assembly this year. Consumer advocates are urging legislators to include home cultivation in any effort.
With Gov. Phil Murphy estimating over $850 million in 2019 sales, the program will allow selling all cannabis products (flower, vape, concentrates and edibles), anyone over 21 to purchase an ounce of flower, 7 grams of “concentrate” and 16 ounces of edibles, and will license five types of marijuana-related businesses (MRBs): cultivation/manufacturing; processing; wholesaling; transporting and retailing.
The bill, proposed by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, calls for a much more open market than first envisioned by proponents, with some 400 marijuana dispensaries and a lower tax rate on legal weed.
The Senate and Assembly are expected to try and find common ground between Gusciora's bill and the one proposed by Sen. Nick Scutari, D-Union, which took a more conservative approach to the state's nascent legalization movement.