The new bill makes a number of technical changes, including to allow persons convicted of marijuana and hashish offenses to expunge those offenses sooner and reduces penalties for underage possession.
Minors found in possession of marijuana would be subject only to “curbside warnings” or “stationhouse adjustments” from officers, policies aimed to change behavior without criminal or civil penalties.
Ed Forchion, also known as 'NJ Weedman,' sells and smokes marijuana outside the Statehouse and avoids being arrested. Thomas P. Costello, USA Today Network New Jersey
With police just feet away, Forchion sold marijuana to about 10 people outside the seat of state government. Inside the building, lawmakers did not act on legislation to allow adults to use marijuana without medical conditions, and Senate President Stephen Sweeney conceded that lawmakers would not meet his September deadline to pass a bill.
"Hey buddy, we're selling weed out here!" Forchion called out to a man walking outside the statehouse. "Twenty bucks!"
The legal saga of a man who claims a state trooper improperly searched his most private of areas for drugs has shifted to federal court — but he wants it to stay in state court.
A lawsuit by 25-year-old Jack Levine of Toms River was removed to federal court July 25 at the request of the deputy attorneys general who are representing the state police. The same day, Levine's attorney, Arthur Lang, asked that the case be returned to state court.
Marijuana users in New Jersey — which is on the verge of legalizing weed — are arrested at the highest rate in the nation by local police departments, some of which report that more than a third of their arrests were for pot, a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey investigation found.
There were 32,279 marijuana possession arrests in 2016 — more than murder, rape, assault or any type of theft, according to the latest data available from the FBI's Uniform Criminal Reporting program. The FBI tracks nearly all arrests across the nation.
Marijuana users in New Jersey — which is on the verge of legalizing weed — are arrested at the highest rate in the nation by local police departments, some of which report that more than a third of their arrests were for pot, a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey investigation found.
There were 32,279 marijuana possession arrests in 2016 — more than murder, rape, assault or any type of theft, according to the latest data available from the FBI's Uniform Criminal Reporting program. The FBI tracks nearly all arrests across the nation.
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal told lawmakers legalization would pose challenges for law enforcement.
“How do we assess drugged driving? What’s the metric for it? Do we have enough drug recognition experts to do this job? Do we have to train up our officers on field sobriety testing procedures? Do we have to have more education and prevention efforts?
Grewal says law enforcement is also trying to understand how police dogs will operate because they’re not trained to differentiate between marijuana and other drugs.
State law enforcement officials are training more officers to recognize signs of drugged driving and preparing for other major changes as New Jersey moves toward legalizing marijuana, the state's attorney general said Tuesday.
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, who was appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy, an advocate for legalization, told a Senate committee Tuesday that he expected the availability of recreational marijuana to present "a challenge," but one his office was prepared to meet.
The New Jersey police officer rifled through the driver’s pockets, socks and his car — and found nothing, Philly.com reported.
State police Trooper Joseph Drew had said he smelled marijuana after pulling the motorist over for tailgating in Burlington County on March 8, 2017, the publication reported, but the 23-year-old driver said he didn’t have any drugs on him, according to court documents and body camera footage.
"If you think this is the worst thing I'm going to do to you right now, you have another thing coming my friend," one of the troopers, identified on the video as Joseph Drew, tells Levine before beginning the cavity search.
The officers — the other one was identified as Andrew Whitmore — were ultimately unable to locate any marijuana and cited Levine for tailgating. Their interaction with the motorist was reported by New Jersey 101.5 radio.