On the same day New Jersey's attorney general announced an immediate adjournment of marijuana-related cases in municipal courts, people in the state's second-largest city appeared to welcome the news.
In Jersey City's Journal Square neighborhood Tuesday, a number of passersby shared their thoughts on the future of marijuana in the state just hours after New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal advised all local and county prosecutors to put a hold on marijuana-related offenses until Sept. 4.
Attorney General says decision buys time for working group to advise on prosecutorial authority and downgrading of charges. Directive does not extend to law enforcement
New Jersey won’t be prosecuting low-level marijuana cases for the next month, and possibly longer.
New Jersey’s leading marijuana legalization advocacy coalition, New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform (NJUMR), made up of leaders and organizations in the New Jersey law enforcement, civil rights, and medical communities, issued the following statement in response to Attorney General Grewal’s decision to put all marijuana prosecutions in New Jersey on hold until Sept. 4:
Grewal said he plans to convene a working group of criminal justice stakeholders to study the issue and advise him on possible solutions. He intends to issue a statewide directive by the end of next month concerning the scope and “appropriate use of prosecutorial discretion” in marijuana-related offenses in municipal court.
Grewal’s letter did not say if arrests for marijuana possession would also be put on hold, and authorities declined comment on that issue Tuesday.
As some officials in New Jersey are pushing to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, the state’s attorney general directed prosecutors on Tuesday to seek to pause any cases stemming from marijuana-related offenses for at least a month, in a move regarded as a possible step toward decriminalizing such offenses.
NJ Advance Media reported Tuesday that it had obtained a letter state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal recently sent to municipal prosecutors. It asked them to seek an adjournment until September 4 — or later — of any matter “involving a marijuana-related offense pending in municipal court.”
New Jersey just quietly moved to decriminalize marijuana, at least for the rest of the summer.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has requested all municipal prosecutors adjourn all marijuana offenses until Sept. 4 as his office develops "appropriate guidance," according to NJ Advance Media.
Last week, Jersey City became the first New Jersey municipality to decriminalize low-level cannabis possession, but state officials immediately interceded to shut this new policy down. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and municipal prosecutor Jake Hudnut held a press conference last Thursday to announce that they were decriminalizing minor marijuana possession and use, effective immediately. The next day, NJ Attorney General Gurbir Grewal stepped in and announced that the new policy was void, as Hudnut did not have the legal authority to supercede state drug laws.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s unilateral decision to instruct the city’s prosecutor to decriminalize marijuana in his city was met with a swift rebuke from state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.
Jersey City is the first in our state to seek to decriminalize marijuana, by letting people have a small amount and treating it like a traffic ticket, instead of arresting them.
But now it's in a legal tussle with the state Attorney General, who says the city doesn't have the authority to do this on its own. However that gets resolved, we're rooting for Jersey City.