The timeline for legal weed in New Jersey may have just sped up. According to key policy makers in the state, legislative bodies may start voting on legalization bills as soon as next week.
Jumpstarting the Legislative Process
Talk of a new timeline for beginning the legislative process recently came from the office of New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney. According to news source Patch, Sweeney’s office issued a statement outlining a possible new timeline for voting on legalization.
In particular, committees from the New Jersey State Assembly and Senate will reportedly hold a hearing in the very near future. Then, if Sweeney’s new timeline unfolds according to plans, lawmakers would vote on a legalization bill on Monday, November 26.
But even if these plans materialize, more action will be needed before The Garden State fully legalizes weed. For example, the full Assembly would still need to vote. Similarly, the full state Senate would also need to weigh in with a vote of their own. And finally, assuming a bill passes all these milestones, Governor Phil Murphy would need to sign off on it.
So far, it’s unclear whether or not a legalization bill would receive all the votes it would need to pass. In fact, there seems to be relatively strong support and opposition.
For example, Assemblyman Ronald Rice is reportedly wary of moving at this pace. Sources indicate that he would rather move through a slower process of decriminalization first, and then possibly full legalization.
On the other hand, the pro-legalization camp has some strong allies. Perhaps most notably, Gov. Murphy. Almost immediately after taking office earlier this year, Murphy began working to expand the accessibility of New Jersey’s medical marijuana program. More recently, he said he would