Some smoke shops are finding clever ways to illegally sell cannabis to customers.
Former New Jersey Attorney General Chris Porrino saw it firsthand while doing some field research. “What I’ve heard more about recently is, we’re charging this amount for the vape pipe or the bong, and it’s X amount dollars more than it otherwise would be. And the marijuana is a gift. The notion that that makes the illegal legal, it’s laughable,” Porrino said.
Mayor Ras J. Baraka today expressed his concerns about the pending bill to legalize Cannabis sales and use in New Jersey and called for complete expungement of Cannabis offenses, in testimony before the State Assembly Appropriations Committee, at the State Capitol in Trenton.
A full legalization bill in the works in the state legislature will not receive the support of at least two mayors if the final legislation doesn’t provide for the expungements of possession and distribution of up to 50 grams of cannabis, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) said.
Baraka and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop (D) said at a press conference that they would exercise their municipal authority and ban dispensaries from operating in their cities if they aren’t satisfied with expungement language in legalization legislation.
New Jersey is going to soon legalize recreational marijuana use. While not every state resident is excited by this step, we believe legalizing what are regularly occurring activities makes sense.
Not only will it bring about an important element of justice as far too many men of color were incarcerated for actions that no longer will be illegal but also increased revenue flows will give some relief to overburdened taxpayers.
As the Garden State looks to legalize cannabis, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has two priorities: a greater bite of revenue for municipalities and social justice.
In a recent interview with NJ Cannabis Insider, Baraka shared his thoughts on what he believes is necessary to get larger cities on board.
State Sen. Richard Codey has no problem with medical marijuana being legal in New Jersey— in fact, he says he supports decriminalizing marijuana altogether. But as legislators in Trenton work out the details of a roughly 150-page bill to create an entirely new — and legal — recreational marijuana industry, Codey is firm: They won't get his vote.
Legal marijuana is so close in New Jersey you can almost smell it. But does soon-to-be-filed legislation do enough to ensure social equity under a legal cannabis system?
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) isn’t so sure. And he’s calling on fellow mayors to join him in pressing for stronger social justice protections such as the expungement of records for marijuana offenses and permitting those with cannabis-related convictions to obtain business licenses to participate in the legal industry.
Mayor Ras J. Baraka today sent a letter to members of the NJ Urban Mayors’ Association asking them to join him in seeking to strengthen the social justice and home rule provisions of legislation pending in the state legislature to legalize adult use of cannabis.
“Let me be the first to say I stand with @rasjbaraka on this,” Fulop tweeted in response to a Baraka press release on social justice reforms pertaining to marijuana.
“The state of NJ needs #Newark , #JerseyCity and urban mayors to be fully engaged to meet their state projections. These provisions outlined here are important to us to move 4ward. Period.”
Baraka’s release came in light of him sending a letter to the NJ Urban Mayors’ Association urging them to join him in calling on the state legislature to reform marijuana laws.
For a panel of lawmakers and advocates at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, it wasn't a matter of if a marijuana market boom was coming to New Jersey. It was just a matter of when.
For Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, it was pivotal that people in his community, who he said have been victimized by drug laws, get to profit from that industry. He was part of an eight-member panel yesterday that discussed marijuana policies to dozens of residents at the church along West Kinney Street.