How much longer will this crazy patchwork of enforcement policies and legalization expectations continue? If New Jersey lawmakers can’t figure out what to do about pot, we have a suggestion: Decriminalize now, work out the rest later.
That shouldn’t be this hard.
“Municipal prosecutors cannot decriminalize conduct that the Legislature has criminalized,” Grewal said, in releasing new guidelines on how local authorities handle pot cases. “They cannot adopt blanket policies of non-prosecution.”
However, he said, “municipal prosecutors can and should strive to ensure that individual justice is done in individual cases.”
Grewal also announced that, beginning next Tuesday, municipal prosecutors should resume pursuing those cases.
In 2016, New Jersey police arrested some 32,000 people for marijuana possession, more than every state except New York and Texas, despite both of those states having much larger populations.
Data from the FBI shows that New Jersey also had the second highest arrest rate for marijuana possession in the country, behind only Wyoming.
In response to Grewal’s memo, Prosecutor McCoy said Tuesday she postponed the prosecution of a case in Madison last week. “All the court is doing is doing is accepting ‘not guilty’ pleas.
“My perspective is any possession cases that come into court will be adjourned until Sept. 4,” she said. “We’ll put off any penalties until Sept. 4.” But once that date arrives, she noted, “The penalties won’t be different. Nothing has changed; simple possession will come back to court sometime after Sept. 4.”
That does not mean visitors to Jersey Shore towns should feel free to spark up this summer. Police say it’s business as usual at this point, which means those caught with marijuana will face charges.
“It’s not going to have no impact on the Ocean City Police Department,” said Detective Sgt. Steph Sullivan.
Like other shore towns, Ocean City sees a summer spike in marijuana arrests along with the large influx of tourists in July and August, but according to Sullivan, the summer of 2018 hasn’t been noticeably different than other years.
Marijuana users in New Jersey — which is on the verge of legalizing weed — are arrested at the highest rate in the nation by local police departments, some of which report that more than a third of their arrests were for pot, a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey investigation found.
There were 32,279 marijuana possession arrests in 2016 — more than murder, rape, assault or any type of theft, according to the latest data available from the FBI's Uniform Criminal Reporting program. The FBI tracks nearly all arrests across the nation.
Marijuana users in New Jersey — which is on the verge of legalizing weed — are arrested at the highest rate in the nation by local police departments, some of which report that more than a third of their arrests were for pot, a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey investigation found.
There were 32,279 marijuana possession arrests in 2016 — more than murder, rape, assault or any type of theft, according to the latest data available from the FBI's Uniform Criminal Reporting program. The FBI tracks nearly all arrests across the nation.
Every city in America knows that it’s a bad idea to prosecute low-level, nonviolent marijuana offenses. It wastes scarce municipal resources and does nothing to enhance public safety. What’s more, even though whites and blacks use marijuana at similar rates, blacks are more harshly punished for it.
That’s why, on July 19, marijuana offenses were effectively decriminalized in Jersey City, New Jersey’s second most populous city.
On the same day New Jersey's attorney general announced an immediate adjournment of marijuana-related cases in municipal courts, people in the state's second-largest city appeared to welcome the news.
In Jersey City's Journal Square neighborhood Tuesday, a number of passersby shared their thoughts on the future of marijuana in the state just hours after New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal advised all local and county prosecutors to put a hold on marijuana-related offenses until Sept. 4.
Attorney General says decision buys time for working group to advise on prosecutorial authority and downgrading of charges. Directive does not extend to law enforcement
New Jersey won’t be prosecuting low-level marijuana cases for the next month, and possibly longer.