New Jersey voters are strongly in favor of a referendum to legalize marijuana that’s on their ballots this November—and most support of setting a tax rate for cannabis that’s higher than the standard sales tax—according to a new survey.
The poll, commissioned by Brach Eichler LLC, showed that 66 percent of likely voters back the legalization measure, which was placed before voters by the legislature. That’s about five percentage points higher than when residents were surveyed on the issue in April.
Poll respondents were split about whether the reforms should include local control of cannabis sales – which would allow municipalities to decide whether to allow cannabis sales within their city limits. The majority – 44 percent – of respondents favored home rule, with 41 percent opposed, and 51 percent unsure. Respondents also favored social-use lounges (50-38 percent), home delivery (55 to 33 percent), and limiting cannabis use to private property (71 to 26 percent).
Registered voters in New Jersey are expected to vote in favor of adult-use marijuana legalization in November — but uncertainty surrounds the pending legislation.
"Cannabis advocates looking forward to creating an adult use regulated and taxed cannabis marketplace have reason to be cautiously optimistic as we approach the consideration of the issue in the form of a public question on the ballot for the voters in November," says Charles Gormally, co-chair of the Brach Eichler LLC cannabis practice group.
As industries start to total their respective losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, legal representatives of cannabis businesses are hoping their still-growing industry isn’t taking a hit.
But Charles Gormally, who co-chairs Brach Eichler LLC‘s cannabis law practice, said one of the major issues for the industry is that it’s caught in a struggle to access banking services. And, although pending federal legislation would help that cause, current restrictions on bankers mean cannabis businesses missed out on coronavirus relief programs.
Charles X Gormally, a New Jersey attorney and co-chair of the Brach Eichler cannabis group, has been closely following cannabis legislation in the state. His law practice, Brach Eichler, has a cannabis group with numerous attorneys who assist in cannabis-related legal matters.
Cannabis Practice Co-Chair Charles X Gormally Shares Advice for Cannabis Business in His State.
This summer, New Jersey has rapidly expanded its medical marijuana program, and attorney Charles X Gormally said the legalization of recreational marijuana is not far behind.