New Jersey’s leading marijuana legalization advocacy coalition, New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform (NJUMR), made up of leaders and organizations in the New Jersey law enforcement, civil rights, and medical communities, issued the following statement in response to Attorney General Grewal’s decision to put all marijuana prosecutions in New Jersey on hold until Sept. 4:
Grewal said he plans to convene a working group of criminal justice stakeholders to study the issue and advise him on possible solutions. He intends to issue a statewide directive by the end of next month concerning the scope and “appropriate use of prosecutorial discretion” in marijuana-related offenses in municipal court.
Grewal’s letter did not say if arrests for marijuana possession would also be put on hold, and authorities declined comment on that issue Tuesday.
Last week, Jersey City became the first New Jersey municipality to decriminalize low-level cannabis possession, but state officials immediately interceded to shut this new policy down. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and municipal prosecutor Jake Hudnut held a press conference last Thursday to announce that they were decriminalizing minor marijuana possession and use, effective immediately. The next day, NJ Attorney General Gurbir Grewal stepped in and announced that the new policy was void, as Hudnut did not have the legal authority to supercede state drug laws.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s unilateral decision to instruct the city’s prosecutor to decriminalize marijuana in his city was met with a swift rebuke from state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.
A small crowd gathered outside Viola Extracts’ cultivation facility for a morning press conference on the banks of the Detroit River July 13. Inside, however, the warehouse was mostly empty.
More than a month prior, on May 29, Detroit police executed a search warrant and arrested six workers inside the facility. Police officers, in conjunction with U.S. Border Patrol agents, confiscated more than 100 lbs. of cannabis. The six were arraigned June 1 in Michigan’s 36th District Court.
Starting today, Jersey City will be the first municipality in the state to decriminalize marijuana.
Chief Prosecutor Jacob Hudnut, in a July 19 memo to the city’s assistant prosecutors, instructed them to downgrade some marijuana offenses to non-criminal offenses, encourage prosecutors to dismiss low-level cannabis offenses and recommend community court for individuals with a criminal history or signs of addiction.
“New Jerseyans of color are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana,” Hudnut wrote.
Jersey City is implementing a marijuana decriminalization policy that its mayor and new chief municipal prosecutor believe will increase racial justice while protecting public safety.
The policy, which is expected to begin officially tomorrow, will downgrade some marijuana charges to non-criminal offenses; encourage prosecutors to seek dismissal of low-level marijuana charges; and recommend diverting defendants with a criminal past and signs of addiction to the city's community court.
Even as New Jersey is poised to legalize marijuana, the cops are still arresting tens of thousands of people annually, mostly minorities, just for having a little pot. Many can't find work because of the stigma.
Jo Anne Zito was rejected for a job at Godiva chocolates because of a low-level marijuana possession charge, she told lawmakers last week. So, as we contemplate legalizing recreational weed, we need to ask: Does it make sense that people like her still won't be able TO get work at a candy store?
Several factors may be at play. Federal marijuana cases have dropped almost 50 percent since 2013—the same year that former U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued a memorandum, colloquially known as the “Cole memo,” to federal prosecutors on marijuana enforcement priorities. The document has generally been interpreted as a message to U.S. attorneys not to prosecute people complying with state cannabis laws.
The tell-tale odor of marijuana might not be enough to help parents catch teens getting high. Cartridges for vape pens and e-cigs containing THC, a psychoactive chemical found in cannabis, often come in fruity smells, offering an unprecedented level of discretion that even has kids using the drug at school, police warn.