New Jersey Halts Recreational Cannabis Bill

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]N[/dropcap]ew Jersey officials have denied the progress of the latest cannabis legalization bill, NJ S2703 (18R), but they are still going to allow voters to decide the issue next year.

According to Politico, legislators introduced a resolution on Nov. 18 that would put a question about legalizing cannabis on the 2020 ballot. If the resolution passes in both houses with a three-fifths majority, it will become an official question. “We made further attempts to generate additional support in the Senate to get this done legislatively, but we recognize that the votes just aren’t there. We respect the positions taken by legislators on what is an issue of conscience,” Senate President Steve Sweeney said in a joint statement with Sen. Nicholas Scutari, who both sponsored the bill. 

“The time is now for action,” Scutari added. “We’re close. We’re closer than we’ve ever been before. Action is needed now. I can tell you that we are discussing this at the highest levels of the Statehouse.”

According to Politico, an unnamed second administration official believes that it is harder to convince lawmakers to make a move and legalize knowing that citizens will have a chance to vote on the issue. “It is a very personal issue and they think about it in different ways. Once you start talking about a referendum in a real way, it’s hard to get folks on that razor’s edge to go the other way [and vote ‘yes’],” the official said.

New Jersey officials are already taking some steps towards embracing cannabis. They recently turned a vacant Walmart into a medical cultivation facility, and they’ve also made changes to its medical program. Now with news of cannabis legalization possibly reaching the hands of the voters, progress could be right around the corner.