In May, Illinois became the 11th state to legalize adult-use cannabis, and the first to do so via legislative action. It’s made Illinois’ law different — and one might argue, better — than everyone else’s, and it provides a road map for other states struggling to get there.
One of the more complex issues confronting the latest wave of states looking to legalize cannabis, including New Jersey, is how to incorporate social justice efforts into legalization legislation. To date, 33 states have implemented medical cannabis programs and 10 states have legalized cannabis for recreational use. That number will soon rise to 11, as Illinois just became the first state where the legislature passed a bill legalizing both the possession and sale of cannabis, a designation most believed would go to New Jersey or New York.
Illinois joins 10 other states, and the District of Columbia, in making recreational marijuana legal. The rost of states where recreational cannabis is now legal (and the year voters approved legal sales) are:
New York State is within 48 hours of joining the ranks of 10 other states where recreational marijuana is legal, or doing the same thing its neighbor New Jersey did during this legislative session -- coming incredibly close to passing a legalization measure, only to see it shot down.
"I am cautiously optimistic," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday morning about the prospect of a recreational marijuana legalization measure passing.
Senate Bill 3205 revises the state’s expungement procedures. Specifically, it expands the pool of crimes eligible for expungement and it establishes an expedited process for those with minor marijuana offenses to petition the court to have their records vacated.
Efforts to legalize cannabis in New Jersey have stalled in recent months as Senate and Assembly leadership negotiated details of the proposed legislation with Governor Murphy, who campaigned on the issue and pledged to enact legalization within his first 100 days in office.
Lawmakers on Monday sent Gov. Phil Murphy a bill setting up an expungement process for low-level cannabis offenses, even without a bill to legalize marijuana and with hesitation to move forward on another proposal to decriminalize cannabis.
The state Senate approved Senate Bill 3205 in a 24-12 vote and the Assembly approved its own version – Assembly Bill 4498 – in a 50-15 vote with six abstentions. The legislation is the only marijuana proposal that made its way to the governor’s desk.
Legislation that would revise procedures and eligibility for the expungement of criminal records, particularly those involving minor marijuana offenses, cleared both the New Jersey Assembly and Senate.
The bill now heads to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk for his signature.
The War on Drugs damaged communities that have been historically targeted by biased policing and racial profiling; it is time to right those wrongs
Illinois is poised to legalize marijuana sales with sweeping legislation that would also automatically expunge the criminal records of people convicted of minor pot possession.
State lawmakers gave final approval to the bill Friday and Gov. JB Pritzker said he will sign the measure, which make Illinois the first state to legalize marijuana sales via its legislature. Most other states that have legalized cannabis did so via a ballot initiative process. Vermont's legislature legalized cannabis but prohibited commercial sales.