After long wait, New Jersey moves ahead on recreational marijuana

TRENTON, N.J. » A recreational marijuana marketplace, cannabis decriminalization and looser penalties for underage possession of the drug and alcohol became law Monday in New Jersey, more than three months after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot question to legalize adult use of the drug.

Acknowledging that the legislation took much longer to be enacted than expected, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy cast aside critics’ attacks the legislation was about filling the state’s coffers with tax revenue or easing penalties on underage possession to the point of making policing difficult.

“The reason I signed these bills, the reason why we’ve been in this fight is for social justice,” he said Monday during a news conference.

He alluded to decadesold stringent policing of marijuana laws frequently called the War on Drugs that resulted in Black residents facing disproportionate consequences.

“At long last, we’ve broken through and as of today, better days are here, and lives that have been nicked or in some cases ruined we’ll be able to correct. At long last and from this moment going forward, we won’t have to see that same chapter written again in our state’s history.”

Murphy signed the bills just in time. He faced a Monday deadline to enact two of three of the bills, and signed the third shortly after the Democrat-led Legislature sent it to him.

Still, it could be about six months before the legalized marketplace is up and running, Murphy and industry analysts estimated. That’s because the state’s new Cannabis Regulatory Commission has to get up and running, and put in place regulations and licenses.

Legislation that passed only on Monday after weeks of negotiation makes underage possession of alcohol and marijuana subject to a written warnings that escalate to include parental notification and a referral to community services upon subsequent violations.

Currently, underage drinking is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail.

Part of the legislation makes it so towns will no longer have the authority to enact ordinances with civil penalties or fines concerning underage possession or consumption violations on private property, among other measures.