Pushing pot
The push to further open the state’s medical marijuana program and advance bills to offer second chances for individuals who get caught with small amounts of drugs comes after months of legislative starts and stalls. It also reflects leaders’ inabilities to pass a plan to legalize adult recreational use that Gov. Phil Murphy has long urged.
What will be different about the expungement process if that bill is signed into law?
If signed into law, bill S-3205 would make more crimes eligible for expungement — including offenses involving controlled dangerous substances — and cut down the wait time to three years. It would also establish an expedited expungement process for marijuana-related offenses and create an "e-filing" system for expungement petitions.
A new "clean slate" program would wipe away all offenses at once for anyone who has a clean record for 10 years after their last offense.
While the legislative push to legalize weed may be dead, the effort to expand the New Jersey medical marijuana program and overhaul the expungement process could soon be headed to a floor vote.
The Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act received unanimous approval from the Senate Health committee on Monday, the first vote since last week's announcement that marijuana legalization would head to the ballot instead of the Senate floor.