If voters approve the legal weed ballot question, New Jersey would be the 12th state to legalize recreational weed and — as of now — the first in the Mid-Atlantic region. If it fails, the Legislature won't be able to consider the issue for three years.
"We are optimistic that 2020 will be the year New Jersey replaces its eight-decade-long experiment with marijuana prohibition with a more thoughtful and humane approach," said Karen O’Keefe, state policies director for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Marijuana prohibition has derailed thousands of lives in New Jersey, while driving marijuana production and sales to the sometimes dangerous illicit market.
"Only with adult-use legalization can the state regulate cannabis to protect workers, communities, and consumers.”
The ballot resolution was approved 24 to 16 by the Senate and 42 to 24, with one abstention, by the Assembly. Since three-fifths of both houses approved the ballot resolution, the constitutional amendment was automatically placed on the ballot.