New Jersey governor looking to legalize marijuana

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy released his budget this week, taking the first formal step toward making marijuana legal in the state.

Murphy’s budget proposal to lawmakers sets a Jan. 1, 2019, target for no-questions-asked marijuana sales to adults, and incorporates $80 million in proceeds from taxes on the drug into the state’s expected revenue.

“Legalization will allow us to reinvest directly in our communities— especially the urban neighborhoods hardest hit by the misguided War on Drugs— in their economic development, in health care and housing, child care and after-school programs, and other critical areas,” Murphy said. “These investments will pay dividends far greater than the cost of mass incarceration.”

New Jersey legislators are currently considering more than a dozen marijuana-related bills, including three that would allow sales and possession of the drug. However, many state lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans alike, have either said they’re opposed to the idea or undecided. NJ Cannabis Insider reported last month that if the bill to legalize marijuana went up for a vote now in the state Senate, it would fail.

Nine states already have legalized sales to adults for non-medical purposes, all of them through voter-approved initiatives. In January, Vermont became the first state to establish a legal cannabis market through legislation, with sales beginning July 1. New Jersey would be the second state to do so.

Like these eight states before them, New Jersey will find itself in the unique position of offering a product legally that remains illegal at the federal level. This affects few people more than employers, as they work to find a way to incorporate this position into their employment screening process.