New Jersey navigates mail-in ballots
In New Jersey, state lawmakers, unable to drum up enough support to pass a bill to fully legalize marijuana agreed to place the question directly to voters: "Do you approve amending the Constitution to legalize a controlled form of marijuana called 'cannabis'?"
Public Question No. 1 would amend the state constitution to legalize cannabis for personal, non-medical use by adults 21 and older. If the measure passes, the state commission that oversees the medical market would also regulate the personal market.
New Jersey is poised to become the biggest state on the East Coast to legalize recreational marijuana.
After struggling to enact legislation to join the growing number of states that have fully lifted prohibition of the drug, lawmakers placed it directly on the Nov. 3 ballot. And it has widespread support: a recent poll found that two-thirds of likely voters are in favor of it.
According to a Marijuana Business Daily projection, New Jersey could have a recreational cannabis industry annually selling between $850 million and $950 million worth of cannabis products by 2024.
Someone has to grow those high-quality buds. So it should come as no surprise that one of the largest agricultural companies in the U.S., ScottsMiracle-Gro, is donating substantial funds to legalize in the “Garden State.”
Public question No. 1 on the general election ballot would amend the New Jersey State Constitution to legalize the possession and use of marijuana for adults 21 years or older. If it passes, the state would oversee a cannabis industry in which adults could purchase legal weed at specifically licensed dispensaries.
Marijuana purchases would be taxed at the state sales tax rate, currently 6.625%, and likely with an additional 2% tax levied by municipalities where the purchase occurs.
The first of three public questions that appear on this year’s ballot asks voters if they want New Jersey to join the ranks of nearly a dozen states where it’s legal for adults to use marijuana recreationally.
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari is author of the adult-use, recreational marijuana legalization bill that never made it to the Senate for a full vote. You know by now New Jersey cannabis legalization is Public Question 1 (on the other side of the ballot if you haven’t voted yet).
If the ballot question passes — which seems likely considering most New Jersey voters support legalization according to several polls — Scutari’s bill will be used as a framework to draft enabling legislation.
Recreational or medicinal? Recreational. New Jersey legalized cannabis for medicinal use in 2010.
What are the details? New Jersey Public Question 1 would legalize the sale and possession of cannabis for adult use (21 and over). Details about possession limits would be hashed out after passage by the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which was established in 2019 when the state revamped its medical cannabis program.
The exact language of the referendum that will appear on all New Jersey ballots will as follows:
"Do you approve amending the Constitution to legalize a controlled form of marijuana called ‘cannabis’? Only adults at least 21 years of age could use cannabis. The State commission created to oversee the State’s medical cannabis program would also oversee the new, personal use cannabis market. Cannabis products would be subject to the State sales tax. If authorized by the Legislature, a municipality may pass a local ordinance to charge a local tax on cannabis products."
If New Jersey voters approve the November ballot question on legalizing recreational marijuana, how quickly could the state see those first sales for "adult use"?
By mid-2021, depending on how quickly state lawmakers follow-up, according to New Jersey CannaBusiness Association President Scott Rudder.
"In order to hit the ground running, you want to do what you can with what you have available," Rudder said.
A staffer with the Office of Legislative Services told Marijuana Moment in an email that “the public hearing scheduled for October, 22, 2020 at 9:30 am has been canceled” and said it was “unknown” if the event will be rescheduled.
In any case, if polling is any indication, it appears that voters are poised to pass the cannabis referendum on their ballots next month.
A survey released on Tuesday found that that 65 percent of New Jersey voters are in favor of the marijuana referendum. Just 29 percent are opposed to the policy change and six percent remain undecided.