As you might expect, several marijuana stocks with operations in New Jersey felt the sting of the delayed vote on legalizing recreational pot. Most of these stocks with New Jersey connections have flown under the radar for many investors, though.
Shares of Curaleaf Holdings (NASDAQOTH:CURLF) sank 5% on Monday. Curaleaf operates only one dispensary in New Jersey, however. Some of the stock's pullback could have been related to profit-taking after Curaleaf soared last week on news that giant pharmacy retailer CVS Health was selling its hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) products.
This week, New Jersey state Sen. James Beach, would have been a "hard no" on the state’s cannabis legalization bill. The bill narrowly missed garnering enough support in the Senate, which prevented one of the most important votes in New Jersey’s history from taking place.
The cannabis legalization bill would not only legalize marijuana, ending prohibition in our state; more importantly, it would promote social justice reform and an end to the decades-long war on drugs in New Jersey.
A monthslong effort to legalize marijuana in New Jersey collapsed on Monday after Democrats were unable to muster enough support for the measure, derailing a central campaign pledge by Gov. Philip D. Murphy and leaving the future of the legalization movement in doubt.
The failure in the Legislature marks one of the biggest setbacks for Mr. Murphy, who, despite having full Democratic control in the State Senate and Assembly, has faced constant party infighting and has struggled to convince lawmakers of his progressive agenda.
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory and Expungement Modernization Act, including among its provisions expungement of past marijuana offenses to right what proponents call past social injustices, didn’t have the needed 21 votes for passage in the state Senate and was pulled from the scheduled board list of bills for the upper chamber’s Monday voting session. The Assembly followed suit and canceled its scheduled vote on the measure as well.
For the past few months, Gov. Phil Murphy, who campaigned for office on a platform of legalization, and Democratic state lawmakers had been hard at work trying to garner support from state legislators. Yet the bill reportedly did not get the 21 votes necessary to pass in the state senate, with some lawmakers concerned that legalization could pose a threat to public safety. Another vote likely won’t take place until at least November, according to Sweeney.
Finally, as he walked away, he said, “I haven’t changed my mind.”
The state Legislature today is scheduled to make a decision on marijuana legalization, with the landmark bill to legalize, tax and regulate weed scheduled for votes in the Senate and Assembly.
Either the legal weed bill will go up for a vote, putting New Jersey on track to legalize marijuana as soon as the coming days.
Or Gov. Phil Murphy and top Democrats won't be able to secure enough "yes" votes, admitting defeat and putting off marijuana legalization until later this year.
They don’t have the votes in the senate tonight to legalize recreational marijuana tomorrow but the front office kept leaning to try to extract the 21 votes required to get it done.
They seemed to be stuck at 17 or 18, depending on who you asked, and a source said Senate President Steve Sweeney’s (D-3) people wanted Governor Phil Murphy to bench press the final three or four votes.
It looked grim, as the neophyte governor attempted to button hole upper chamber lawmakers with time ticking down.
His hail mary appeal?
Republicans.
As mayor of Trenton and an original sponsor of the bill permitting adult-use marijuana, I wholeheartedly support such legislation currently under consideration by the state Senate (S2703) and Assembly (A4497). The legislation will do a lot of good for New Jersey as a whole and, specifically, for urban centers around the state in the way of economic opportunities and social justice concerns.
After months of deliberation, the legality of recreational marijuana use is set for legislative vote on Monday.
In the bill, so-called low-level pot convictions would be expunged.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker took to Twitter, saying that the bill has strong measures to reverse the damage of the War on Drugs.