Marijuana legalization is likely to be on the ballot in 2020 after New Jersey legislators fell just short of the required votes to make the state the 10th in the country to legalize and establish a marketplace. Legislators are reluctant to put the issue on this year’s ballot because the 2020 general election is sure to turn out more voters. For now, the hopes of New Jersey pot consumers and entrepreneurs for legalization are up in smoke.
Nevertheless, days after the vote, the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce hosted its first annual Cannabis Business Summit at the NJCU School of Business on Essex Street on May 22. Business leaders came together to discuss the next steps for legislators and those hoping to get into the cannabis business.
Plan B is already underway. It involves expanding the current medical cannabis system and expunging the records of people with arrests or convictions for low-level marijuana crimes. In New Jersey, enforcement of marijuana crimes disproportionately affects communities of color. Black New Jerseyeans are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than their white counterparts.