Background: Growing a single marijuana plant is a third-degree crime under current state law, punishable by three to five years in prison. Growing 10 or more plants can be prosecuted as a first-degree crime with a mandatory minimum three-year prison sentence.
Despite overwhelming voter approval of the November constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis, and sputtering efforts to set up a legal framework for the sale and possession of the drug, Democratic lawmakers who control the Legislature have not advanced legislation to change the draconian penalties for growing weed.
Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, is the primary sponsor of S3407, introduced Thursday. The bill legalizes possession of six or fewer marijuana plants once Murphy signs a legalization bill into law.
“The people of New Jersey made it clear in November that they want to lift the prohibition on cannabis,” Cardinale said in a statement. “Since then, the Legislature has spent three months fumbling around with what should have been a simple task, and complicated the legalization effort with countless fees, licensing and extra layers of bureaucracy.”
A New Jersey Assembly committee on Friday advanced a bill outlining non-criminal penalties for minors who possess marijuana, a bill Democratic lawmakers hope will appease Gov. Phil Murphy and get him to sign legalization and decriminalization bills already sitting on his desk.
Meanwhile, in a legislative twist, an opponent of legalization introduced a bill that supporters had long sought allowing residents to grow their own marijuana plants, assuming Murphy does sign the bill creating New Jersey's marijuana market.
Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, is the primary sponsor of S3407, introduced Thursday. The bill legalizes possession of six or fewer marijuana plants once Murphy signs a legalization bill into law.
Medical marijuana patients have long called for the state to allow them to grow their own plants. The strained medical cannabis program in New Jersey has led to high prices and product shortages, and those who want to grow their own medicine see it as a work around for the program’s hurdles.