Marijuana legalization activists across the country are holding their breath with every stop and start in the push to legalize weed in the Garden State.
And it's not just because of their hopes that New Jersey becomes a billion-dollar linchpin in the tristate area.
It's because New Jersey has established itself at the forefront of a social justice-driven marijuana legalization plan, advocates say, with expungements and racial equality becoming hotter topics than even tax rates. And many of the issue's longtime advocates expect the New Jersey model will soon become the status quo for other states looking to legalize weed.
"We are focusing as heavily on the criminal and social justice aspects as we are the economic aspects of this bill," said Evan Nison, board treasurer for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the country's oldest legalization advocacy group. "That's going to have profound effects on this nationally and globally over the next 15 or 20 years."