Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation (A. 5981/S. 4154) into law today facilitating the expungement of low-level marijuana crimes and other offenses.
The measure establishes an expedited process for expunging the criminal records associated with minor marijuana-related violations, among other changes. An analysis of nationwide arrest data published last year reported that New Jersey was third in the nation in total marijuana arrests and second only to Wyoming in per capita marijuana arrests.
Garden State NORML and cannabis consumers across New Jersey are calling on legislators to find an immediate solution to stop arresting nearly 100 people every day for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
“Taxpayers are spending millions to put handcuffs on marijuana consumers, the same people who are expected to come out to the polls and vote for a constitutional amendment,” said Garden State NORML Executive Director Charlana McKeithen. “With another delay for full legalization, we hope elected officials will explore every option to stop these needless arrests.”
It is no secret that the potential legalization of adult recreational use cannabis has not gone exactly as the current administration had planned. Legalization was to be coupled with expungement provisions that would effectively remove from the record all low-level marijuana/hashish/paraphernalia arrests and convictions.
NJ Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver, Monmouth) wants voters to decide if should legalize recreational cannabis. If a bill recreational cannbis comes up, in lame-duck, O’Scanlon’s a NO vote.
“There’s legitimate value to be gained by waiting,” Sen O’Scanlon told InsiderNJ. “We’ll have a lot more info from other states and that’ll make a compelling (referendum) debate in November of 2020.”
Someone is arrested for marijuana possession in New Jersey every 15 minutes. And that startling number has only gotten worse over the past few years, according to civil rights advocates.
On Friday, the ACLU of New Jersey released a report that examined the state's 2016 and 2017 crime data. Researchers found that – despite a growing chorus of voices calling for legalization and expungement – marijuana arrests have actually risen "dramatically" over the past few years.
Read the full report.
According to the ACLU-NJ:
None of the four states have yet legalized recreational marijuana, but on Thursday, officials agreed to a set of guidelines to follow when considering legalization. They include:
Efforts to enact a law clearing certain marijuana convictions stalled on Thursday morning when the state Senate pulled a vote on some of the changes Gov. Phil Murphy wanted to have in the cannabis expungement bill. Lawmakers instead reintroduced the bill yesterday afternoon, which according to Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd District, contains much of what Murphy wants.
NJTV News reports on the legislative struggles to get recreational marijuana legalized in the Garden State, including the criminal justice system implications. NJ lawmakers recently called off a vote to legalize adult-use recreational marijuana that would have also expunged the records of thousands of residents convicted of possession. At the same time, law enforcement concerns remain over how drugged driving will be detected.
Even as states across the country have legalized marijuana, potentially opening the door to a multibillion dollar industry, the impact of marijuana criminalization is still being felt by people — mostly black and Hispanic — whose records are marked by low-level convictions related to the drug.
But on Wednesday, New York began the process of expunging many of those records, as part of a new state law to reduce penalties associated with marijuana-related crimes, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo confirmed.