Connect with us

News

New Jersey to Put Recreational Cannabis on the 2020 Ballot

Published

on

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]N[/dropcap]ew Jersey lawmakers passed a proposal on Dec. 16 to put recreational cannabis on the 2020 ballot.

According to ABC 6, a majority of lawmakers backed adding this question to the ballot. The Assembly, made up of mostly Democrats, passed the measure 49-24, and the Senate passed the question 24-16. The governor still has to sign the proposal, but he has been known to support recreational cannabis legalization.

The inquiry that will be posed to voters asks if they will approve recreational cannabis for people 21 and older. All cannabis will be taxed, and towns can charge and set their own taxes. “The time to end the prohibition of adult-use cannabis is now,” Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said.

While this ballot question is an exciting victory, it was the second choice of legislators who failed to push through legalization earlier in March. They failed because opponents cited a number of concerns with the bill that was proposed. Many on all sides of the political spectrum opposed it, mainly because they were worried it would become too easy to clear past cannabis convictions if the bill passed.

However, even though this is the next best thing, some worry that the ballot measure doesn’t force legislatures to deal with social justice concerns like the fact that people of color are the demographic most often arrested for cannabis. “A constitutional amendment asks voters to make a decision first and find out the details later, undermining the principles of a representative, participatory democracy,” said Amol Sinha, the executive director of the state American Civil Liberties Union.

Still, despite the fact that a constitutional amendment isn’t perfect and the legalization bill already died, many are hopeful about legal cannabis in the state. Even if all the kinks haven’t been worked out, projects like clearing past cannabis convictions could be made possible if cannabis is legalized.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *