Jo Anne Zito, a veteran of New Jersey’s cannabis crusade, testified on behalf of the legalization effort to the New Jersey senate. She is concerned that residents may be confused as to the legal status of cannabis, post-referendum and still pre-legalization, since a situation exists that simple misunderstandings can lead to a stint in jail and a criminal record. Zito has also championed “home grow” and advocated that state lawmakers need to allow residents to grow their own plants in their own homes for their own use.
Although a majority of New Jerseyans support cannabis legalization, it’s not industry grown only cannabis we want. We are voting for personal choice and freedom and a few cannabis plants to love at home like they do in other legalized states.
Nine out of the 11 legalized states allow home grow of cannabis by adults and Montana, Arizona and South Dakota, all have it in their adult-use ballots this year. The Garden State should not be left out.
Widowed and left to raise her two children alone, Jo Anne Zito needed a decent second job to help make ends meet. But twice in 2016 she missed out on gigs after potential employers learned she’d been busted for pot years earlier.
"Once you're in that criminalized zone, it's pretty hard to get out," Zito told Cheddar.