We must decriminalize adult-use marijuana while we await a ballot measure on legalization in November. Maintaining a status quo that sees roughly 600 individuals, disproportionately people of color, arrested in New Jersey every week for low-level drug offenses is unacceptable.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced on Tuesday that he will be working with lawmakers to advance legislation to decriminalize marijuana possession after the legislature failed to produce a passable bill to more broadly legalize cannabis.
While the question of legalizing and regulating sales is now expected to go before voters as a referendum on the 2020 ballot, removing criminal penalties for mere possession could prove more palatable to some lawmakers in the interim.