For the past several years, the question of whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults has been a hotly debated topic across the country. The 2017 gubernatorial race brought this debate to New Jersey, when then-candidate Phil Murphy proclaimed that one of his goals for his first 100 days as Governor would be the passage of legislation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults. While those 100 days have come and gone without the passage of such legislation, Governor Murphy remains committed to the legalization of recreational marijuana. In fact, the governor is so confident that New Jersey will legalize marijuana, that he has included revenue from legal marijuana sales in his proposed 2019 budget. At a minimum, it is starting to appear that it is not if, but rather when marijuana will be legal in New Jersey.
To that end, on June 7, 2018, State Senators Stephen M. Sweeney, (D. Gloucester) and Nicholas P. Scutari, (D. Union) introduced two bills regarding the legalization of marijuana. S2702 proposes to legalize marijuana for recreational use and expand New Jersey’s existing medical marijuana program. S2703 is limited to legalizing recreational marijuana use, and is identical to S2702. While State Sen. Scutari has stated that his goal is to pass a bill prior to the June 30, 2018 deadline for the Legislature to pass its budget, it appears that this may be an uphill battle given the short amount of time. While there is no telling whether the eventual law will be identical to either of these bills, they provide a landscape as to what can be expected. Therefore, these bills, along with data collected from other states that have legalized recreational marijuana use, provide valuable insight and important considerations that municipalities should take into account when considering whether to allow dispensaries, growers, wholesalers and/or processors to operate within their jurisdictions.
The first consideration is the economic benefits to the community. A study conducted by the Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Institute of Cannabis Research, found that legalized marijuana contributed an estimated $58.8 million to the Pueblo County economy in 2016. This demonstrates that legalized marijuana had a direct contribution to increased revenue for non-marijuana related businesses in Pueblo County, Colorado. This economic boon did not come without cost, as the same study estimated that Pueblo County had an increase in law enforcement and social services costs associated with legalized marijuana of $23.2 million for the same year. The study did not find a direct correlation however, between legalized marijuana and an increase in crime. Despite the increase in expenses, Pueblo County still realized an estimated net increase to its economy of $35.6 million in 2016 alone.