In 2013, 66 New Jerseyans every day were arrested for low level cannabis-related offenses. That number has risen to 94, a more than 40 percent jump.
Cannabis advocates and politicians in Trenton launched 94 No More on Monday, a campaign focused on bringing attention to the thousands of people arrested annually for low-level cannabis offenses, even during a time when many in New Jersey are pushing for full legalization.
For the second time this year, top Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey pulled the plug on legislation to legalize cannabis sales for recreational use, killing any likelihood Gov. Phil Murphy will deliver on a key campaign promise before 2021.
Instead, legislative leaders introduced a resolution Monday that would put a recreational use question on the November 2020 ballot. The resolution would need to pass both houses of the state Legislature by three-fifths majorities in one year or by simple majorities in consecutive years to make it onto the ballot.
Trenton – Joined by Senator Nick Scutari and Assemblyman Jamel Holley, the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association (NJCBA), the American Civil Liberties Union of NJ (ACLU-NJ), New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform, Minorities for Medical Marijuana, the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 152, the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey, Doctors for Cannabis Regulation and additional advocacy groups will announce a new initiative called “94 No More”.
“If we start breaking up this bill, we are creating more disparity and more divisiveness, ensuring nothing productive will occur,” he added. “Medical marijuana patients are just as important as people in our minority communities who have been affected by the so-called War on Drugs. This is a question of equality. We are supposed to be practical. We are supposed to be responsive. And we are supposed to be working toward a fairer New Jersey, right?
“Since legalization and expungement is Murphy’s last promise of his first year commitments then the bill should be the first on the floor after his state budget message. Let’s get it done.”
In New Jersey, lawmakers have focused the ongoing debate on the drug war’s ills. Criminal justice equity has been as important as tax revenue as lawmakers debated the details of legalization. That has required open talk about racial profiling, poverty, the vice trade and the effect of a drug conviction in blocking access to everything from college loans and affordable housing to state licenses needed for jobs like cutting hair.
And for the faint of heart, it's easy to find a place to hide when so many sloppy arguments are flying around in defense of the status quo.
More car crashes, if you twist the data so hard it screams. Children lured into the abyss, as if they don't have access to weed today. Edibles that dangerously turbo-charge the high, as if it's impossible to mark the dosage.
There’s still plenty of wrangling going on, but the big picture is that legislation has been passed out of committee in both legislative chambers that would legalize recreational marijuana use (i.e., the possession of one ounce or less) by those age 21 or older. The law would also regulate and license those wishing to sell marijuana, and implement a sales tax of 12 percent on purchases. These measures will improve people’s lives, although they are not especially unique given that New Jersey would become the 11th state (along with the District of Columbia) to take them.
As Trenton begins to debate a marijuana bill approved on Monday by a joint legislative committee, creating an efficient process for tossing out past convictions has become central to gaining support from lawmakers who represent predominantly African-American communities.
well spoken sir Thank You