New Jersey officially became the 13th state to legalize marijuana as Gov. Phil Murphy last week signed three bills that put an exclamation point on the will of Garden State voters. Twenty other states, including Pennsylvania, have legalized medical marijuana use. The federal government still considers any marijuana use as a crime.
New Jersey’s legislators overwhelmingly approved a referendum last year to add the Garden State to the growing number of states which want to cash in on what politicians see as a Fort Knox of newfound revenue at a time when money is desperately needed to make up for lost revenues because of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.
Although Pennsylvania has a Democrat for a governor - Tom Wolf - just as Murphy is, both houses of our General Assembly are dominated by Republicans, who are more conservative when it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana. New Jersey’s Legislature has a Democratic majority.