How to get your criminal record expunged for weed convictions in NJ
John Turner, owner of Bomaye, a Philadelphia-based company that helps people obtain medical marijuana cards, says his parents inspired him to pursue a career in cannabis.
John Turner, owner of Bomaye, a Philadelphia-based company that helps people obtain medical marijuana cards, says his parents inspired him to pursue a career in cannabis.
While it was known for some time that these white-owned businesses would be allowed to open first, social justice advocates were stung by the lack of businesses owned by Black, Indigenous or people of color, especially given the state’s continued reassurance and laws to ensure racial justice. According to Leafly’s 2021 Seeds of Change report, only 2% of the nation’s legally operated cannabis companies are Black-owned. Meanwhile, Black New Jerseyans are over three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than their white counterparts.
The report, which also focused on education, health care and public safety, found that in 2018, Black students were suspended twice as often as other groups, with the number of suspensions increasing the following year. The researchers say more studies need to be done to determine any links between legalization of marijuana and such disparities.
“This report is critical to New Jersey setting a model similar to other states in recognizing that all people in the state are not the same, and by legalizing cannabis, its impact on different communities is going to vary,” said Charles Menifield, dean of Rutgers University-Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration and the study’s principal investigator.
The goal is to use the data for comparative analysis over time to help shape state policy. "This is literally a baseline report of what we should be looking at and where we are now,’” said Menifield.
Officials with the state Association of Chiefs of Police met with New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal on Wednesday to try to resolve questions and issues they have with enforcing new marijuana laws now that adult-use recreational marijuana is legal.
Racial disparity in New Jersey prohibition
Between 2010 and 2018, Black people were 3.5 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis across the state. In certain counties, that discrepancy shoots up to over 13. And according to the ACLU, the disparity has gotten worse over time—in 2000, Black people were arrested 2.2 times as often.
Voters approved legal recreational marijuana in the November election, but lawmakers and Gov. Phil Murphy have yet to reach a compromise on bills that would set up the new market and revise penalties for underage possession.
Although both houses of the legislature approved “enabling legislation” in December, and a decriminalization bill sits on Murphy’s desk, the first-term Democrat hasn’t signed either one.
A big part of the problem is what to with people under age 21 who get busted for pot. Bill Caruso, a founding member of the advocacy group New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform, says there are very valid concerns from members of the Black and Latino caucuses about the enforcement of marijuana laws that have disproportionately targeted people in minority communities.
"It comes down to trust, and I think there’s a lack of trust," Caruso said. "They have seen on full display the unfortunate and biased treatment of minorities in the eyes of the law."
Why the cannabis industry needs social equity programs
Throughout the war on drugs era, the heavy-handed enforcement of marijuana prohibition resulted in the lopsided criminalization of people of color.
Despite a near equal propensity between whites and people of color for possessing marijuana, police have historically targeted Black and Latino communities when doling out criminal repercussions.
Passage of Question 1 is necessary to halt the skyrocketing number of marijuana-related arrests that are occurring in the Garden State. Annually, more than 30,000 New Jerseyans are arrested for cannabis-specific violations – one of the highest totals of any state in the nation. These arrests and prosecutions cost taxpayers an estimated $143 million every year.
get your FL Office of Medical Marijuana Use card!
get your MD Medical Cannabis Commission card!