TRENTON, N.J. _ A bill that would legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey, following the lead of eight other states, was introduced in the state Senate on Monday.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Nicholas Scutari, who led a bipartisan group of lawmakers to Colorado in October to see how legalization was working there, said he doesn't expect passage of his measure this year but wants to lay the foundation and win support.
The bill would allow adults to possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis or 16 ounces of infused solid products, such as edibles, but would prohibit home cultivation of marijuana plants.
Scutari, a Democrat from Union County, said he would request hearings on the bill this year even though he plans to reintroduce it next year when Gov. Chris Christie is out of office.
Christie, a Republican who opposes legalization, will no longer be in office in January. The Democrats vying for the nomination to replace him all favor legalization, while the Republican front-runners have not committed but appear open to decriminalization.
"This is the right thing to do," Scutari said, noting that opioids are legal despite being heavily addictive and over-prescribed, while the "misguided war on drugs" makes possession of non-addictive marijuana a crime.
He said African-Americans are three times more likely to be arrested, disproportionately, for marijuana possession, which is a social injustice.
Under the bill, taxes on marijuana sales would start at 7 percent and rise to 25 percent over five years. Scutari said he wants to give the new industry a chance to counteract the illegal drug market by allowing prices to start out low.
He said the tax revenues are not designated for any public purpose, unlike in a previous bill, which directed that the moneys be used for transportation infrastructure and drug abuse programs. But, he said, that could change.
