If legal weed passes in N.J. next week, how soon could you buy pot?

[Tudo]

After hours of backroom deliberation in Trenton on Monday, two legislative committees advanced a marijuana legalization bill to the full state Legislature, which is expected to vote on it next week. If they pass it, the measure would just need the governor’s signature to become law.
NJ Advance Media has reported that both the state Senate and Assembly are short the votes required for passage, but Gov. Phil Murphy has now entered the fray and is now helping swing votes. Legislative leaders have shown public confidence that they think legalization will pass on March 25.
So let’s take a look at the two possibilities and how that affects when weed sales could start in New Jersey.
What if weed is legalized next week?
Legalization is a misleading way to put it, at least at first. If lawmakers pass the bill next week, you wouldn’t be allowed to just start walking around with weed in your pocket the next day.
The measure gives regulators up to six months to make the specific rules of the industry and it wouldn’t be legal to use or possess marijuana until the rules are approved and sales start. Lawmakers have done this so as not to legitimize the marijuana black market.
If the bill were to pass next week, the first possible sales would likely be about six months after, assuming the existing medical marijuana dispensaries are approved to start selling to the public. The bill allows medical marijuana dispensaries to sell to the public as early as six months after passage as long as they get permission from the state and they have enough marijuana to sell to their patients first.
So, if a lot of things fall into place, you could buy in New Jersey by this fall. But as we’ve seen, things don’t always fall into place in Trenton.
What if the bill doesn’t pass this time?
We’ve heard from legislative sources that the Assembly is still a couple of votes shy of the 41 needed for passage and the Senate still needs a few more lawmakers to swing. There was also significant opposition from Republican legislators on Monday, including some who had been considered getable votes.
With less than a week before the scheduled vote, the governor and legislative leaders still have a lot of work to do to get the bill through.
NJ Advance Media had previously reported that if marijuana wasn’t legalized this spring it would likely go to the ballot for voters to decide. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney has since said that’s not going to happen.
Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said earlier this month that if they can’t get legalization done this month that he’d push it to after the election in November. If this happens, we’re looking at the summer of 2020 before weed sales could likely start.
A lot will happen in the next week as we approach the legalization vote, but if and when you’ll be able to legally buy marijuana is going to be in lawmakers’ hands.
https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2019/03/if-legal-weed-passes-in-nj-next-week-how-soon-could-you-buy-pot.html

 

[Tudo]

NJ Law Journal


Marijuana Legalization on Track for Monday Vote

A measure to legalize the possession and recreational use of limited amounts of marijuana for adults 21 and older has been approved by two legislative committees, setting the stage for floor votes in both chambers as early as Monday.


A measure to legalize the possession and recreational use of limited amounts of marijuana for adults 21 and older has been approved by two legislative committees, setting the stage for floor votes in both chambers on Monday.

The legislation, called the “New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory and Expungement Modernization Act,” outlines how to organize and regulate a new cannabis industry, who would benefit from it and by how much, and sets social reform as a key target. It was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee with a vote of 6-4-1 on Monday night. A panel of the Assembly Appropriations Committee also moved the bill by a 6-1-2 vote.

With both committees’ nod, New Jersey edged closer to becoming only the second state after Colorado to establish regulations for marijuana use as an act of the legislature. If the measure is voted through and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, it would become the 11th in the nation to approve adult, recreational use of marijuana that permits the cultivation and sale of cannabis, joining Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts and Michigan.

On Wednesday at noon, a spokesman for the Senate Majority Office emailed the new board list for Monday with the bills to be voted on by the full Senate, and the marijuana bill was on it. A spokeswoman for the Assembly Majority Office said the Assembly had the marijuana bill on its board list for Monday as well.
The committee approvals earlier this week didn’t come easy or early. There were several hours of “fine-tuning” by legislative staff on the bill, and discussion by lawmakers as to whether the measure was even going to come up at all on Monday.

Some lawmakers, such as Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman, R-Somerset, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, complained how little time he and his colleagues had to digest the contents of the expansive bill before voting on it.


“Asking us to form an opinion without seeing the full details of the bill is an incredibly irresponsible way to govern,” Bateman said in a release Monday at 3:45 p.m. The Senate Judiciary Committee would eventually vote on it just a little over four hours later.
Murphy and legislative leaders had teased the rollout of the anticipated legislation on March 12 after announcing they had reached a tentative agreement on its core principles. They were in tandem on the bill’s mission to not only create a new revenue source for entrepreneurs, municipalities and the state, but also a blueprint for social equity. But the details were still a work in progress.
A key component is a provision championed heavily by the governor to expunge minor marijuana offenses for certain individuals, in large part to aid minority communities that have seen a disproportionately high number of such convictions. The revised bill lists “dismissal of all pending marijuana charges and convictions for up to five pounds.” An individual would be able to file a petition for expungement at any time under the legislation’s terms.
The marijuana recreational use bill, S-2703, includes other social justice reforms, including the designation of “impact zones” with preference for new cannabis businesses, and incentives for minorities, women and disabled veterans to participate in the nascent industry. The revised bill states that 30 percent of adult use and 30 percent of medical use licenses are encouraged to go to minority, women, or veteran communities.
“There have been far too many people, especially those from Black and Hispanic communities, who have been negatively impacted by the criminalization of cannabis,” said Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, D-Union, in a statement after the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted on the Assembly version of the bill, A-4497. “I became interested in legalization due to the inequalities in the enforcement of cannabis laws and their long-term impacts on the lives of all people in this state, but considerably those of color.”
“It is time we listen to the will of the majority of New Jerseyans and take a common-sense approach to regulation of cannabis,” said Quijano, who is chairwoman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. “This bill is a huge first step.”
The cannabis industry in New Jersey will have its own growers, processors, wholesalers and retailers with the potential to create thousands of new jobs in sales, production and related services, proponents say. Like any major industry, it is expected to be an economic engine for the state.
“Marijuana prohibition has failed,” said Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, the prime sponsor of S-2703, with Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, in a statement. “It is time to end the detrimental effect these archaic drug laws are having on our residents and make adult use marijuana legal.”
Scutari said the estimated $127 million the state currently spends to enforce marijuana laws could be used by law enforcement to combat other, more serious crimes.
“This bill will create a strictly regulated system that permits adults to purchase limited amounts of marijuana for personal use,” said Scutari, who also authored the law creating New Jersey’s medical marijuana program. “It will bring marijuana out of the underground market so that it can be controlled, regulated and taxed, just as alcohol has been for decades.”
Sweeney, the Senate’s co-prime sponsor, said the legislation “represents a significant change in public policy that will have a real-life impact on social justice, law enforcement, the economy and the lives of people in communities throughout New Jersey.
“We developed a thorough and thoughtful plan that will put in place rules and regulations that allow for adult use cannabis in a responsible way,” Sweeney said. “As a regulated product, legal marijuana will be safe and controlled.”
Under the bill, cannabis would be subject to an excise tax of $42 per ounce, imposed when marijuana is cultivated.
Municipalities that are home to a cultivator or manufacturer can choose to receive the revenue from a 2 percent tax on growers and processors, 3 percent for retail operations, and 1 percent for wholesale facilities.
A five-member Cannabis Regulatory Commission would govern the cannabis law and operations and adopt all regulations to govern the industry. The commission would include three members appointed by the governor and one each recommended by the Assembly speaker and Senate president.
https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/20...rack-for-monday-vote/?slreturn=20190222161802

 

[prune]

I don't see real availability happening on that six month anniversary.

In a regulated and controlled atmosphere once all rules are committed then you have licensing, zoning, build-out and then a full grow cycle before anything goes to market. A full year would be a more likely outcome before any real dealing is done, and probably 2-3 years before demand is close to being satisfied.