Registered patients will be able to purchase up to 3.0 ounces of cannabis for medical use every 30 days. Now, recreational users can purchase up to 1.0 ounces per purchase starting this week.
You must be at least 21 years old to purchase recreational marijuana in New Jersey.
“We’re not inventing marijuana,” he said. “It exists.”
The topic came up as the governor spoke about the ongoing financial crisis brought on by closures to stem the spread of the virus in March. The state, too, has had to spend additional funds in attempts to control the outbreak, and could borrow as much as $9.9 billion over the next year, if state lawmakers approve a massive proposal later this week.
The governor of New Jersey said on Tuesday that legalizing marijuana could simultaneously help the state recover economically from the coronavirus pandemic while also promoting racial justice.
During an interview on the radio program Jim Kerr Anytime, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) recognized that the state is going to need to be innovative to generate revenue amid the health crisis. A co-host said cannabis could be part of the solution and the governor agreed.
Registered voters in New Jersey are expected to vote in favor of adult-use marijuana legalization in November — but uncertainty surrounds the pending legislation.
"Cannabis advocates looking forward to creating an adult use regulated and taxed cannabis marketplace have reason to be cautiously optimistic as we approach the consideration of the issue in the form of a public question on the ballot for the voters in November," says Charles Gormally, co-chair of the Brach Eichler LLC cannabis practice group.
Gov. Phil Murphy has not had any discussions with legislative leaders about pushing through marijuana legalization ahead of a November referendum in order to secure additional revenues in the face of a fiscal downturn over the COVID-19 crisis.
“Despite all that was said, I will not vote for any budget until we pass legislation to decriminalize marijuana. We have an opportunity to enact meaningful social justice reform in New Jersey, but we have to have a real commitment to get it done. By releasing those incarcerated for marijuana offenses, we will free up $140 million in the budget.
“The bigger the stakes, the more vigorous the lobbying,” said Jeff Brindle, executive director of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, which prepared the report. “Lobbying is an essential part of government. Special interest groups have a legitimate and integral role in helping to shape policies that affect the people of New Jersey.”
The $36.5 billion spending plan for 2019 was the most lobbied for issue, with 112 entities making 296 contacts to individuals and groups.
Accordingly, plan B, they have said, is to significantly expand the current medical cannabis system and push through a separate bill (S-3205) for expunging the records of individuals with arrests or convictions for low-level marijuana crimes.
Senator Ronald L. Rice today released copies of a letter sent to Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-3) and Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin (D-19) addressing what he described as unrealistic budget projections based on a flawed bundle of marijuana legislation that has stalled in the state Legislature.
The governors of Illinois and New Jersey may not be marijuana users — but they could sure use some.
Both Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy need their state legislatures to legalize cannabis this year. Otherwise, they won't be able to pay their bills.
Both Pritzker and Murphy are relying on revenue from licenses or taxes from legal cannabis to balance state budgets this fiscal year, a gamble that makes the two states immediately among the hottest battlegrounds in the ongoing move to legalize the drug in states around the country.