Murphy told The Hill in December that the “biggest driver” for him in terms of marijuana legalization was social justice.
“We have to remind folks that we're not inventing marijuana, that it exists. What we're trying to do is trying to undo the social injustices, take the business out of the hand of the bad guys, protect our kids, regulate it, tax it. It's not going away,” he said at the time.
The governor echoed Tuesday during his address that the state should attempt to change the law to help those trying to move on from past convictions.
As Gov. Phil Murphy delivered his first State of the State speech Tuesday, listing marijuana legalization as a top priority for 2019, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo laid out his vision for legalizing the drug in his own state.
Cuomo unveiled long-awaited details of his legalization proposal during a simultaneous State of the State address in Albany, calling on lawmakers to send him legislation by April. That timeline that could put New York on track to clear the way for retail marijuana sales ahead of New Jersey, where a similar effort has been stalled for months.
Edward "NJ Weedman" Forchion is calling for equality as marijuana legalization spreads, but says the black market isn't going anywhere. The cannabis activist explains why in this week's episode of CannaBiz.
Part 2 of NJ Cannabis Media’s special report on stigma and the cannabis industry.
How important are words in fighting stigma surrounding an industry that is based on a plant?
Consider the changes made to New Jersey Bills S2703 and S10.
Another week has come and gone and once again there is no news to report on the status of legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis and expand the medicinal marijuana program.
The scheduled Jan. 10 meeting between Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin did not happen – apparently a casualty of the the special legislative committee investigating how Murphy’s team responded to Katie Brennan’s rape allegations.
The trio may reschedule the meeting for later this month, according to multiple reports.
Brick Township Mayor Ducey has not taken much of a stance on many issues of late, citing his political independence, but when asked last week on his “Facebook Live” session with residents about a public referendum on this year’s election ballot for the sale of marijuana in his town, Ducey ecstatically approved.
“I would love a public referendum, that would be an awesome idea,” Ducey told resident. “We would be able to do that next election…it’s something that we’re definitely looking at.”
Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders put off a meeting scheduled last Thursday that was supposed to address legalizing marijuana and the $15 minimum wage plan, sources told Patch. The meeting was supposed to come just days before Murphy's State-of-the-State address.
Murphy's office said it had a scheduling conflict, and it was "mutually agreed upon" to reschedule. Officials did say that delaying the meeting "does not delay anything of substance – staff conversations are happening on an ongoing basis."
The recreational use of marijuana in New Jersey could soon be legalized, and while Camden Mayor Frank Moran doesn’t care if residents decide to toke up or not, he does care if its sold in his city.
In an interview with TAPinto Camden on Tuesday, Moran said that he is not in favor of the sale of the drug for recreational use in a city where the illegal drug trade has, as the mayor described, “literally wreaked havoc” for decades.
To create a business in an industry that is still in its infancy and because of the vagaries of the laws from state to state, the blueprint for success doesn’t necessarily exist.
“I scratched my head when I first got into it – the more I dug in I determined that I needed to come up with the blueprint for myself,” say Coleman, the chief executive officer of PG Health, LLC.
That blueprint includes a female- and minority-led team that will pursue cultivating and manufacturing licenses in the next round of applications for medical marijuana facilities.
While more detailed rules are expected after passage, the bill specifically requires the following:
- Vehicles must include a secure lockbox for the cannabis and the delivery route must be trackable via Global Positioning System (GPS).
- Deliveries can be made only to a physical address in New Jersey.
- Drivers must check identification.
- Marijuana products must be handed to the individual who made the order.
- Deliveries aren’t allowed to access properties on federal land or that are leased by the federal government.