The governor of New Jersey wants voters to approve a marijuana legalization referendum that will appear on the state’s ballot in November—and he’s letting people know that at seemingly every opportunity he can.
In his latest remarks, delivered on the Bloomberg Surveillance program on Sunday, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) stressed that the primary goal of enacting the policy change is to promote social equity, but he also recognized that it represents a potential source of significant tax revenue for the state.
Will New Jersey become next state to fully legalize marijuana? It’s one of four that could take the step this year. On November 3, New Jersey voters will decide on Question 1, a constitutional amendment to legalize for adults over 21. The result will have an enormous impact in a state that arrests about 100 people every day on marijuana charges.
On a national level, 37 states have instituted some type of cannabis law reform policies: 11 states have legalized adult use cannabis, 15 states have decriminalized cannabis use, and 11 states have legalized medicinal cannabis. Despite more than half of the country legalizing or decriminalizing cannabis, law enforcement still made more than 6.1 million cannabis arrests over the past eight years. By comparison, police made more arrests for cannabis possession than for all violent crimes combined.
For many people—especially those in black and brown communities hit hard by the “war on drugs” of past decades—old arrests and convictions for minor amounts of pot are still haunting them whenever they fill out a job application or apply for an apartment.
“Millions and millions of individuals have been arrested and have these records following them for the rest of their lives,” says Justin Strekal, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Gov. Phil Murphy has not had any discussions with legislative leaders about pushing through marijuana legalization ahead of a November referendum in order to secure additional revenues in the face of a fiscal downturn over the COVID-19 crisis.
They are all Democrats, but the primary candidates vying for the right to challenge U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, differ on how they view legalization of recreational cannabis.
Montclair State University Professor Brigid Harrison, of Longport; West Cape May Commissioner John Francis; and former House Oversight Committee staffer Will Cunningham, of Vineland, favor legalization as a social justice and economic driver.
He’s the lawmaker who’s getting the credit — or, in some circles, the blame — for derailing the effort to pass a law legalizing recreational use of marijuana, pushing hard instead for decriminalization.
And Sen. Ron Rice is straight up about what he thinks of the two-year effort to add New Jersey to the list of states where weed is legal.
The four states represented have all either attempted or flirted with cannabis legalization, without yet achieving it:
Of the 18 states that legalized medical or recreational cannabis sales since 2016, six have taken considerable measures to boost diversity in their marijuana programs.
While that doesn’t represent a majority of markets, those that have implemented significant social equity programs are projected to grow much larger than those without.
People of color have faced hurdles in joining the burgeoning legal cannabis industry, despite bearing the brunt of marijuana arrests from the United States’ war on drugs. But many lawmakers and entrepreneurs are now making social justice a pillar — even a necessity — of how they approach the growing field.
Cities and states have implemented so-called cannabis equity programs, with mixed results, to address the harm inflicted on black and brown communities. Meanwhile, many industry figures have made equity and diversity cornerstones of their businesses.