And now the bad news
Medical cannabis in NJ is still the most expensive in the nation, between $450-$500 for an ounce of the good stuff. And lacking provisions for home cultivation, you can go to jail for 5 years for growing your own weed in New Jersey.
The most impactful change Trenton could make is to permit patients to grow their own medical cannabis, eliminating barriers like cost, fees, long lines, distance to dispensary, etc. But the tremendous lobbying clout of NJ’s cannabis industry means that won’t happen any time soon, leaving NJ out-of-step with other medical cannabis states.
But there’s a workaround that could get us partway there, if not for recreational users, at least for NJ’s 127,721 medical cannabis patients.
NJ’s Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin could sorta kinda decriminalize home cultivation with a memo directing New Jersey’s 21 county prosecutors to lay off patients who run afoul of NJ’s remorseless anti-home grow laws.