As we say out West, all hat and no cattle.
At the start of the year, legalization of recreational marijuana in New Jersey and New York appeared all but inevitable.
The Democratic governors of both states supported legalization and the legislatures in both states were controlled by Democrats (in New Jersey 56-26 Ds in the Assembly and 25-15 in the Senate; in New York 106-43 in the Assembly and 39-23 in the Senate). National and statewide polling in both states showed overwhelming support for legalization, especially among Democrats.
Legal weed in New Jersey is dead. After a prolonged attempt at resuscitation, it was called at 11 a.m. on Wednesday by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney.
Well, actually, wasn’t it dead already? What were the odds Gov. Phil Murphy or legislative leaders were going to get the votes for it? Everyone was dug in. Maybe there was a glimmer of hope for supporters, but that was extinguished by the tax incentives fight. And those who don’t want to see the tax incentives examined so closely certainly have an interest in blaming the marijuana legislative failure on the investigation.
Murphy said he’s open to signing both bills, but “the devil will be in the details.”
Sweeney had tied the legalization bill, NJ S2703 (18R), to the two other measures relating to the state’s burgeoning medical marijuana industry and criminal justice reform.
More than a dozen families have reached out to Mike Honig in recent weeks, as Jake’s Act stalled because it was tethered to the controversial bill legalizing recreational weed. That changed Wednesday, when Senate President Steve Sweeney announced the legislature was kicking the recreational issue to a referendum in 2020 and fast-tracking Jake’s Act for a statehouse vote that is expected to be hassle-free.
“We’re very happy,” Mike Honig said late Wednesday. “It’s nice to see everybody come together and move forward for the sake of patients.”
Murphy, at an unrelated press conference, rejected that premise.
“I reject being blamed for trying to help citizens out who have nowhere else to turn, whose lives are at stake or quality of life is a stake,” he said during the presser. “I wouldn’t call that blame. This is my responsibility as governor.”
Sweeney said the two had been packaged with the recreational marijuana bill in the hope that support for them would provide leverage to get recreational marijuana passed. But with a handful of Senators solidly opposed to creating a legal marijuana industry in New Jersey, he decided to break the measures apart.
“I thought we were going to get [legalization] done in the first 100 days of Murphy’s term,” Sweeney said. “But people have strong feelings … There are bills that are a matter of conscience where it’s really hard to push people.”
The setback is the latest of many, and it means that recreational marijuana may not be a reality in New Jersey for at least another year and a half. Legalizing marijuana was a campaign promise of Murphy's, and lawmakers had spent months before he even took office laying the groundwork for its passage.
But Murphy and Sweeney were unable to muster enough support from fellow Democrats to pass the measure. The Assembly was said to have had enough votes to surpass the 41-vote threshold in that chamber, but the Senate fell short of its required 21 votes.
New Jersey’s top lawmaker said Tuesday he was giving up on the effort to legalize recreational marijuana through the Legislature and would instead put the issue up for voters to decide next year.
Senate President Steve Sweeney also said he would move forward with bills to expand the state’s medical cannabis program and expunge existing marijuana convictions.
A push to legalize recreational marijuana in New York and New Jersey this year appears all but dead in both states, a dramatic fall for an effort that just over a month ago seemed inevitable.
For months, the two states were locked in a race to legalize, vying for millions in tax revenue and progressive bragging rights. But at the end of March, the campaign in New Jersey abruptly collapsed, hours before a vote was supposed to take place.
THE COMBATANTS
Phil Murphy: New Jersey’s 56th governor, he’s a former Wall Street executive who also served as U.S. ambassador to Germany under former President Barack Obama. Murphy didn’t hold elected office until he easily defeated his Republican rival in the 2017 election.