Police officers and municipal prosecutors must halt arrests and drop charges in low-level marijuana possession cases now rendered legal by New Jersey's marijuana legalization laws, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal directed Tuesday.
The move is the most immediate, wide-ranging impact of the legal weed bills signed into law Monday by Gov. Phil Murphy, who hailed them as the end to "New Jersey's broken, indefensible marijuana laws."
The attorney general also instructed police officers that they cannot conduct a search based on the smell of marijuana alone, burnt or otherwise.
The only exception, the Attorney General's Office wrote, is during a motor vehicle stop "if there is probable cause to believe that the driver is operating the vehicle while under the influence."