New Jersey faces another vote on Tuesday to legalize cannabis

The November 2 vote in New Jersey could have a profound impact on the expected opening of the state’s legal cannabis industry to adult use next year.

A candidate for governor – incumbent Phil Murphy, a Democrat – has overseen legalization and further, albeit imperfect, progress in opening up the state’s retail market. The other candidate – Republican Jack Ciattarelli – is openly opposed to cannabis and wants to overturn legalization because he wants the police to arrest more cannabis smokers.

It’s quite a stark contrast.

To have good problems

Most New Jersey residents still have problems with legal cannabis in the Garden State: it’s been taking too long, too many cities have banned retail sales, homegrown isn’t allowed, there’s not enough support for public companies, and it’s it will be months before the first adult stores open to the public.

As early as 2017, Phil Murphy ran for governor and promised to pass the legalization of cannabis “in its first 100 days”. He was elected and spent the next three years getting a bill through the state legislature to no avail. The New Jersey Republicans largely opposed legalization, while Murphy’s Democrats conducted endless negotiations over various aspects of competing plans.

In November 2020, the question was finally submitted to the state voters in the form of a referendum. That measure was passed by a wide margin (67% yes to 33% no), making legal cannabis officially more popular in New Jersey than any statewide political candidate in recent times.

Related

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Building a just industry takes time

Building a regulated cannabis industry from scratch may take longer than proponents would like, but many of the benefits of social justice legalization that Governor Murphy originally put in place are already online. In February 2021, he signed three separate reform bills, including one decriminalizing up to six ounces of cannabis for adults 21 and older. Another bill decriminalized cannabis for those under 21 who were caught for the first time, replacing criminal penalties with a written warning.

Governor Murphy also appointed former ACLU attorney Dianna Houenou to chair the Cannabis Regulatory Commission in New Jersey with a mandate to oversee the state’s emerging industries in a way that is “just, fair and inclusive.”

Over 362,000 cannabis cases have since been cleared in New Jersey.

The ongoing home-growing ban is a problem for many cannabis enthusiasts and reform proponents. But in a recent appearance on his call-in segment of NJ News 12, “Ask Governor Murphy,” the head of state said he was now “open-minded” about signing a law allowing home growing.

“I support adult use [cannabis legalization] purely for social justice, ”he added. “It actually happens as we speak. And the industry is being built primarily with equity. “

That could change, of course, if Murphy’s election on Tuesday is down.

Ciattarelli would “reverse” legalization

Jack Ciattarelli, Republican candidate for governor in Tuesday’s elections, also has a legalization plan: total recrimination. As he stated in a televised debate in May:

“I didn’t support that [legalization] Vote referendum. It has been approved by the New Jersey people, which means the only way to get it removed is to put it back on the ballot. As governor of my first term, if this introduction of recreational marijuana as it is now legalized is a failure, I will work to get it back on the ballot. We can reverse this decision. “

Just six months after New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved the legalization, Ciattarelli was already talking about the state’s implementation. His biggest complaint? Ending the cannabis ban makes it difficult for police to arrest people.

“We practically handcuffed our local police,” he said. “The New Jersey people didn’t sign up for that. We have only made the work of the local police more difficult with the law passed by the Democrats. “

Ciatterelli’s logic assumes that 67% of voters somehow failed to understand that legalizing cannabis means the police can no longer arrest you for it. Nor does it realize that this is a feature, not a bug.

Ciatterelli’s long, terrible record on cannabis

Jack Ciatterelli’s rejection of cannabis isn’t limited to concerns about curtailing police power or even consumers who are consumed by adults.

In 2016, he voted as state legislature against a bill that added post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualifying conditions for New Jersey’s medical cannabis program – even with a series of pointless hoops for patients to jump through, as on the bill.

To qualify for medical marijuana, the patient’s PTSD symptoms would need to be resistant to conventional medical therapy, which typically combines psychotherapy with antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. In order to be approved for the use of medical marijuana, the patient would also have to meet the other requirements of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, including obtaining a certificate of the patient’s condition from a doctor with whom the patient has a bona fide doctor . patient relationship.

So when a U.S. combat veteran with PTSD returns home and tries to treat it with psychotherapy and (dangerous, addictive) drugs, it doesn’t work, says Jack Ciatterelli, and he then gets a positive recommendation from his doctor to try cannabis – even then, this veteran and everyone else suffering from PTSD in New Jersey should be cut off from legal state supplies and even arrested for simple possession.

A year before the PTSD vote, Ciatterelli attempted to crush a law that removed some of the medical program’s most difficult restrictions, such as the THC limit on cannabis and a provision that would allow pediatric patients to receive three different medical recommendations, to qualify.

He also voted against allowing minors access to medical cannabis, including those suffering from severe seizure disorders, cancer and other life-threatening diseases. While Ciatterelli now claims he supports decriminalization, in 2012 he voted against a bill to reduce penalties for possession of 15 grams or less of cannabis.

Ciatterelli could delay store openings for years

As Ciatterelli himself noted, the only way to refute the legalization laws already on the books is through another public vote. This means that if he wins the gubernatorial race, he will immediately launch a public campaign to push for the vote to be overturned.

The good news is that turning a margin from 67 to 37 just a few years after the will of the people was so vigorously expressed is a pretty absurd notion. But that is consistent with the rest of Ciatterelli’s positions on the subject.

More dangerous is that he could not completely repeal New Jersey’s cannabis laws, but could simply delay, hinder and sabotage them from within, including under the supervision of the Governor of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

But only if New Jersey voters give him the job.

Recent polls show Governor Murphy in the lead, but the race is getting closer as Tuesday gets closer. Only time will tell who is ahead of the game and will determine the future of New Jersey cannabis. But one thing we know for sure: if Jack Ciatterelli loses, you won’t catch him publicly cursing it.

David beehive

Seasoned cannabis journalist David Bienenstock is the author of “How to Smoke Pot (Properly): A Highbrow Guide to Getting High” (2016 – Penguin / Random House) and co-host and co-creator of the podcast “Great Moments in Weed History.” Abdullah and Bean. ”Follow him on Twitter @pot_handbook.

View David Beehive’s articles

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