New Jersey legislators will hold hearings Monday to debate bills that would legalize recreational marijuana in the state, expand the existing medical marijuana program, and perhaps change how cannabis is legally grown, sold, and distributed in the United States.
The legalization act provides a way to have previous arrests and convictions for minor cannabis offenses to be expunged from criminal records. It will also create up to 218 licenses for new cannabis dispensaries, allow for "retail marijuana consumption areas" for people to use cannabis at those dispensaries, and give municipalities wide latitude to ban marijuana businesses within their borders with an ordinance.
The bills under consideration also replace the word marijuana with the term "cannabis."
One bill, sponsored by two Democrats in the state Senate, is known as the use legalization act. It would tax and control the drug like alcohol. It is sponsored by New Jersey Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D., Gloucester) and State Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari (D., Union).
The updated medical cannabis act would greatly expand the number of qualifying ailments for patients who want to use the drug to treat their health conditions. It would also create a state-sanctioned clinical research program would pair cannabis growers with academic research institutions that could include pharmaceutical companies.
Several proposed amendments to the bills could radically reshape cannabis sales and distribution. One provision would create a number of "microbusinesses," essentially a network of small-scale growers and smaller retail dealers that would operate like a decentralized Amazon.com of marijuana. The small-scale growers would be limited to 1,000 plants. Small-scale dealers would be capped at distributing 1,000 pounds a month. The bill would permit home delivery to customers and allow only New Jersey residents to become microbusiness owners.
The legalization bill sets taxes at a low rate at the beginning so the recreational program can compete with the underground market. The original bill called for an excise tax to start at 12 percent, rising to 15 percent in the second year, 20 percent in the third and 25 percent in the fourth. No state taxes would be levied on medical cannabis.
A Cannabis Regulatory Commission would oversee an Office of Minority, Disabled Veterans, and Women Cannabis Business Development. That office would work to ensure that 30 percent of the new marijuana businesses are controlled by diverse groups that traditionally have been shut out of the industry or that have borne the brunt of oppressive cannabis laws.
The legalization act would limit cannabis advertising and sponsorship. Marijuana growers and retailers would be forbidden to advertise products between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Businesses would also be prevented from sponsoring events unless less than 20 percent of the audience is under age 21.
