The state Legislature failed to send bills to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk before the Memorial Day weekend that would have set up an expungement process for cannabis-related criminal offenses and dramatically expand the state’s medical marijuana program.
Days after the state Legislature’s top elected official — Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd District — said chances were slim that the Legislature could approve an adult-use recreational marijuana bill, the expungement and medical marijuana bills were quietly added to the voting schedule for committee votes on May 20 and full floor votes in both chambers on May 23. The Senate vote was later pulled, but the Assembly did approve a medical expansion bill in a 65-5 vote with six abstentions.
Sweeney has pledged to have the expungement and medical measures signed into law by June 30 when budget talks end and lawmakers break for the summer. But the prospect seems uncertain at best. After months of fits and starts, the Legislature apparently remains mired in discord over what to do about marijuana, despite professed unanimity among the state’s top elected leaders and widespread support for drastic changes among the electorate.