The New Jersey legislature passed the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act in December, 2020 (NJ A21) that would establish a licensing system with six classes of licenses to cultivate and distribute cannabis. While the bill would prioritize licenses in “impact zones,” meaning zones with high unemployment and a history of cannabis-related offenses, the bill was criticized for limiting the availability of licenses to 37 licenses total over the next two years for both medical and recreational cultivators.
Two legislative committees on Thursday voted to advance identical versions of the “clean-up” bill, NJ A5211 (20R), to the floor of both the Senate and Assembly. Full votes have been scheduled for Jan. 11, the day before Murphy is scheduled to deliver an annual State of the State address he's typically used as a showcase for the previous year's policy achievements.
New Jersey lawmakers plan to send Gov. Phil Murphy (D) a marijuana “clean-up” bill to address a number of his remaining policy concerns around cannabis, including how the state would deal with people under 21 caught with the drug.
The legislation, which both chambers are expected to take up in the coming week, is believed to be a final step in securing Murphy’s approval as the state scrambles to establish a regulatory framework for legal marijuana. More than two-thirds of state voters approved legalization at the ballot box in November.