NORML Storms New Jersey

Originally published at blog.NORML.org

NORML New Jersey stormed the halls of the state legislature during Monday’s press conference, rally, and lobby day to help break the legalization deadlock and demand that state lawmakers take action in support of adult use cannabis legalization in the Garden State.

The crowd of activists and press heard from NORML’s state policy team, the ACLU-NJ, medical cannabis patients, and others who have been adversely impacted by New Jersey’s unjust cannabis policies on issues such as regulating sales, expunging past records, home cultivation rights, and more.

Efforts to legalize cannabis in New Jersey have stalled in recent months as Senate and Assembly leadership negotiated details of the proposed legislation with Governor Murphy, who campaigned on the issue and pledged to enact legalization within his first 100 days in office. No action has been taken on the bill since a joint committee vote in November 2018.

Members of the Senate and Assembly were scheduled to vote on the measure in March, but the vote was ultimately delayed due to a lack of the required number of votes to approve the measure in the Senate.

On the same day, the Senate and Assembly approved legislation to expunge past records for certain cannabis possession offenses, which now heads to Governor Murphy’s desk.