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Criminal Cannabis Cases Placed on Hold in New Jersey

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New Jersey officials are developing guidelines to dismiss or downgrade cannabis offenses, but for the time being, the state has temporarily halted the progress of cannabis court cases for the next 30 days.

Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal sent a letters to municipal and county prosecutors informing them of the temporary directive. “By the end of August, I intend to issue a statewide directive concerning the scope and appropriate use of prosecutorial discretion in marijuana-related offenses in municipal court,” Grewal stated. “In the interim, I ask that all municipal prosecutors in New Jersey seek an adjournment until September 4, 2018, or later, of any matter involving a marijuana-related offense pending in municipal court. This adjournment will give my office sufficient time to develop appropriate guidance for prosecutors.”

Courts are expected to be suspended for all cannabis court cases starting immediately, and those with pending cases will have to wait until Sept. 4, as prosecutors and other law-enforcement officials develop guidelines on how cannabis should be handled. Grewal’s order does not completely dismiss cannabis court cases.

This movement stems from an announcement made by Jake Hudnut, a chief prosecutor in a city known as New York’s unofficial sixth borough, who announced on July 18 that court cases would be treated as local ordinance violation. However Grewal addressed this announcement by meeting with Hudnut in person, informing him that it was not his order to give, and that Grewal planned to address the issue differently.

Officials in local areas such as Jersey City have already stated their approval for this move toward decriminalization. “This is a huge win for Jersey City, the state of New Jersey and most importantly, the people who would have been impacted by the creation of a criminal record due to a simple marijuana arrest,” Mayor Steven Fulop stated. Jersey City is the state’s second-most populated municipality, and has been ordered to decriminalize the use of recreational cannabis according to Fulop, who cited Grewal’s statement.

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