State Senate President Steve Sweeney said Tuesday he’s open to exploring a decriminalization measure now that New Jersey won’t have a legal cannabis marketplace for at least another year.
“I’m open to something,” Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said in an interview, adding that he’d want a decriminalization bill structured in a way that doesn't “make the black market so attractive that it becomes worse.“
Earlier Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy came out in support of cannabis decriminalization as a form of "critical short-term relief" for those who could be arrested between now and November 2020, when a legalization question will likely appear on the ballot.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) previously indicated he’d be open to a decriminalization measure in the event the legalization bill collapsed.
In the meantime, Sweeney said he still plans to advance a bill, NJ S4154 (18R), that would create a process to automatically expunge records of certain marijuana-related offenses, rather than leave it up to former offenders to file petitions to do so.