The New Jersey Judiciary announced on Thursday that the state has expunged more than 362,000 marijuana cases since July 1, when a decriminalization law took effect that mandated the relief for people who have been caught up in prohibition enforcement. The courts also said that they will be launching a public education campaign next week to help even more people understand the opportunities for relief under the law.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, roughly 1,200 people have also been released from probation since their cannabis expungements were processed.<\/p>\n
The courts previously estimated that around 360,000 people were eligible<\/a> for relief under the new law, so it appears that the review process has effectively identified most of those cases.<\/p>\n New Jersey Judiciary Expunges More than 360,000 Marijuana Offenses. https:\/\/t.co\/EYuPpmfEQT<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Dr2jUhsNsi<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 New Jersey Courts (@njcourts) September 16, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n These actions, first reported<\/a> by NJ.com, come after state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner issued an order<\/a> in July that also makes it so certain pending marijuana cases must be dismissed, and failure to appear warrants must be rescinded.<\/p>\n \u201cCases with offenses eligible for expungement include certain marijuana or hashish charges alone or in combination with the following: possession of drug paraphernalia; use or being under the influence of a controlled, dangerous substance; and failure to make lawful disposition of a controlled, dangerous substance,\u201d the Judiciary said<\/a> in its update on Thursday.<\/p>\n Those who aren\u2019t automatically eligible for expungement can still file a motion for judicial review, it said. The Administrative Office of the Courts also plans to launch an \u201cawareness campaign\u201d on September 20 to \u201cinform the public of the opportunities<\/a> available through the Marijuana Decriminalization Law.\u201d<\/p>\n Gov. Phil Murphy (D)\u00a0signed companion marijuana legalization and decriminalization bills<\/a> in February. The legislature was required to pass the former measure after voters approved a reform referendum during the November 2020 election.<\/p>\n \u201cWith our new cannabis laws, we are turning the page on the failed War on Drugs and ensuring social justice here in New Jersey,\u201d the governor said in a tweet about the recent record clearing moves.<\/p>\n 362,000 marijuana cases already expunged. Thousands more to come. \u2014 Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) September 13, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n New Jersey officials have separately been proactive about cannabis reform implementation since the legalization bill was enacted.<\/p>\n The day after Murphy signed the legalization legislation, then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal (D) directed prosecutors to drop cases for cannabis-related offenses<\/a>\u00a0and issued separate guidance for police on how to proceed under the updated laws.<\/p>\n The attorney general also\u00a0encouraged prosecutorial discretion for marijuana cases<\/a>\u00a0in earlier memos prior to the bill\u2019s signing.<\/p>\n Grewal also took steps to ensure that people aren\u2019t exploiting provisions of the legalization law before retail sales launch. In June, he sent warning letters to companies<\/a>\u00a0that were effectively circumventing the state\u2019s marijuana laws by \u201cgifting\u201d cannabis in exchange for non-marijuana-related purchases such as overpriced cookies, brownies and stickers.<\/p>\n Gifting is lawful between adults 21 and older under New Jersey\u2019s adult-use cannabis law, but a number of businesses have allegedly taken advantage of that policy by giving away \u201cfree\u201d cannabis products to those who purchase other items like snacks and baked goods.<\/p>\n No retail marijuana businesses have been licensed since the state enacted recreational legalization earlier this year. But regulators approved initial rules for the program<\/a> last month that will set up the state\u2019s retail market.<\/p>\n More than 70 percent of municipalities in the state have opted to ban cannabis businesses from operating<\/a> in their area, but voters haven\u2019t had a direct say in the local decisions so far, with local officials making the choice through city councils.<\/p>\n That said, elected officials from several areas who do support cannabis commercialization chose to enact a ban ahead of an August 22 deadline simply to give themselves more time to develop individualized regulations before greenlighting marijuana companies.<\/p>\n Missouri Spends Millions In Medical Marijuana Tax Revenue To Support Veterans Programs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post New Jersey Has Expunged A Third Of A Million Marijuana Convictions Since July<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The New Jersey Judiciary announced on Thursday that the state has expunged more than 362,000 marijuana cases since July 1, when a decriminalization law took effect that mandated the relief for people who have been caught up in prohibition enforcement. The courts also said that they will be launching aContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49979"}],"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\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49980,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49979\/revisions\/49980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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With our new cannabis laws, we are turning the page on the failed War on Drugs and ensuring social justice here in New Jersey.https:\/\/t.co\/NMNCCcIlib<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\nRead More: New Jersey Has Expunged A Third Of A Million Marijuana Convictions Since July<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"