In a seemingly offhand comment winning much local media attention, New Jersey\u2019s Gov. Phil Murphy plugged legal cannabis as a boost to the state\u2019s struggling economy, hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
The words came in an exchange on the July 14 broadcast of the\u00a0Jim Kerr Rock & Roll Morning Show<\/a>\u00a0on New York\u2019s\u00a0Q104.3<\/a>\u00a0classic rock radio station. Murphy was clearly trying hard to be chipper amid a gloomy economic scenario.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still need federal cash assistance direct into the state,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that I hope that Congress will get to, sooner than later, that the president\u00a0will sign. That\u2019s another big slug that we need. We\u2019ll look at revenues that we can potentially raise on our own\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At that point, co-host Shelli Sonstein broke in, taunting in a sing-song voice over the governor\u2019s sober intonation:\u00a0\u201cMary-juanaaa\u2026.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n Murphy didn\u2019t skip a beat. \u201cListen, as you probably know, I\u2019ve been on that from day one,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Legislature hasn\u2019t been able to get there yet, but absolutely. That to me is an incredibly smart thing to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He briefly sounded semi-apologetic: \u201cWe\u2019re not inventing marijuana, it exists.\u201d But he quickly followed up: \u201cIt\u2019s got a huge social justice piece for me. The overwhelming percentage of persons nailed in our criminal justice system are persons of color. It\u2019s a no-brainer in that respect.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Indeed, as New Jersey\u2019s\u00a0Advance Media<\/a>\u00a0points out, police across the state arrest Black people\u00a03.5 times more often<\/a>\u00a0than whites for cannabis offenses, despite the fact that both communities use it at similar rates.<\/p>\n Murphy went on: \u201cIt\u2019s a job creator. It\u2019s a tax revenue raiser. It checks a lot of boxes. I hope we\u2019ll get there sooner than later.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n After fruitless attempts in the Democratic-controlled Legislature to pass a long-promised legalization bill, lawmakers moved to put the question to the voters last December. A measure approved by both houses, and supported by Murphy, officially\u00a0places the question on the 2020 ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n The\u00a0New Jersey Marijuana Legalization Amendment<\/a>\u00a0would allow use, cultivation and possession by those 21 or over. It does not set quantity limits, however\u2014leaving that up to the enabling legislation, along with an oversight regime for adult-use sales. Given the Legislature\u2019s record of inaction on the cannabis question, this means that even if the ballot measure passes, it could still be many months before legal sales can begin.<\/p>\n After the state legalized medical marijuana in 2010, it was almost three years before the first dispensary was able to open. Today, the state\u2019s nearly 80,000 approved patients rely on just nine dispensaries\u2014or\u00a0Alternative Treatment Centers<\/a>, as they are formally known.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the state legalized medical marijuana in 2010, it was almost three years before the first dispensary was able to open.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Polls in the state\u00a0support full legalization<\/a>, and a 2016 report from\u00a0New Jersey Policy Perspective<\/a>\u00a0estimated that Trenton could bring in $305 million in sales tax from adult-market cannabis sales.<\/p>\n There are other potential avenues for opening up some breathing space for cannabis in the Garden State. The lower-house Assembly last month\u00a0voted to pass<\/a>\u00a0a bill that would decriminalize possession of up to two ounces\u2014bringing New Jersey in line with New York across the Hudson River, which was one of the first states to decriminalize back in 1977. The Senate has yet to vote on the measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under\u00a0current New Jersey law<\/a>, 50 grams (an ounce and change) or less can land you a $1,000 fine or six months in prison.<\/p>\n The law creating the commission,\u00a0signed by Murphy<\/a>\u00a0last July, was called the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, named after seven-year-old Jake Honig<\/a>, of Howell Township, who died the previous January following a battle with brain cancer.<\/p>\n Among its measures aimed at expanding the medical marijuana program was a provision for home delivery\u2014but, once again, the state <\/a>Health Department never moved to enact this. However, the provision is clearly much more significant a year later, in light of pandemic-related restrictions on movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n This became especially apparent when hours-long lines backed up at Alternative Treatment Centers in March. Finally, on June 25, the Health Department announced that it had issued regulations allowing for home delivery to begin at four of the nine ATCs.\u00a0<\/p>\n But once again, there is a catch: Technically, the new regulations constitute a \u201cwaiver<\/a>\u201d from the current administrative code barring home deliveries. This is a work-around measure that does not actually bring the code into conformity with Jake\u2019s Law.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Department continues to prioritize patient access during this unprecedented pandemic,\u201d Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>, reported by\u00a0Advance Media<\/a>. \u201cThis new waiver will allow ATCs, once they have submitted a plan to the Department for approval, to deliver across the state.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The four ATCs are\u00a0listed<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0Zen Leaf<\/a>\u00a0of Elizabeth,\u00a0Rise Cannabis<\/a>\u00a0of Paterson,\u00a0Harmony Dispensary<\/a>\u00a0of Secaucus and\u00a0Curaleaf<\/a>\u00a0of Bellmawr.<\/p>\n But home delivery also has potential complications. Medical marijuana is a cash-only business in New Jersey, and there are concerns that delivery service may mean security risks for drivers.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, do you think New Jersey will legalize in November?\u00a0<\/p>\n The post New Jersey Governor Plugs Legal Cannabis for Post-Pandemic Recovery<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In a seemingly offhand comment winning much local media attention, New Jersey\u2019s Gov. Phil Murphy plugged legal cannabis as a boost to the state\u2019s struggling economy, hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The words came in an exchange on the July 14 broadcast of the\u00a0Jim Kerr Rock & Roll MorningContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,5032,90,65,139,215],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43643"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43644,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43643\/revisions\/43644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Political Deadlock Still a Threat<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Home Deliveries Coming\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: New Jersey Governor Plugs Legal Cannabis for Post-Pandemic Recovery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"