New Jersey’s path to marijuana legalization once looked easy.
Phil Murphy, the state’s unabashedly liberal governor, has made legalization one of his top legislative priorities since his election in late 2017. But on Monday, when the state Senate and General Assembly are scheduled to vote on a bill to legalize recreational cannabis for adult use and introduce sweeping reforms to wipe clean the records of current and past marijuana offenders, its fate is far from certain.
While the Democratic Party’s leadership is with Murphy, support among the rank and file in New Jersey’s deeply blue Legislature is flagging. Murphy’s dreams of a massive homegrown marijuana industry are at risk.
“I don’t know that we’re there yet,” Murphy told POLITICO in an interview Friday, referring to whether there is enough support in the Legislature to pass the bill. “I don’t know that we’ll be there on Monday.”