A New Jersey SITREP

(Situation Report)

By Leo Bridgewater

On November 3rd 2020 the state of NJ passed an amendment to its state constitution to tax and regulate Adult use cannabis for persons 21 and older. That night Mississippi, Arizona, Montanna, and South Dakota all passed adult use measures legalizing cannabis. In a first, South Dakota passed measures for both Medicinal and adult use cannabis in the same election. New Jersey is unique in that we are the first Mid-Atlantic state to pass adult use measures and adult use passed with 67% of the vote. No state has ever passed adult use cannabis with 67% of the vote in favor of. That means 2.7 million people voted in favor of ballot question 1, and adult use, it won in every county in the state. Given the fact that for years NJ lawmakers have been largely reluctant to pass any adult use measures because many of them were convinced that majority of their constituents did want cannabis legalized in NJ. In fact, a number of municipalities passed ordinances banning cannabis businesses from operating within their towns. N.I.M.B.Y (Not In My Back Yard) became the battle cry during these years.

One NJ lawmaker actually predicted an apocalypse type of scenario where NJ residents would be laying on street corners because they purchased their cannabis at a local bodega. He also predicted there would be sales of cannabis infused sex oil. This type of hysteria was not exclusive to just lawmakers. Church leaders in the state also raised unfounded concerns as well. A prominent NJ church leader predicted that passengers flying out of Newark Airport would be greeted by their pilots informing them that take off would happen as soon the pilot and copilot finish their “marijuana” joints. Every Halloween news outlets across the state would publish reports warning parents to check their kids bags of candy for “marijuana” laced candy. Yet, despite all of the efforts made to persuade voters against cannabis legalization, NJ still overwhelmingly said yes. 2.7 million yes votes prove that there exist a very serious disconnect between lawmakers and their constituency.

Unfortunately, that disconnect has evolved into malcontent and vengeance. Lawmakers in both the lower house and assembly are angry, embarrassed, and determined to get back at the 2.7 million NJ voters by ensuring they pass the most f**k’d up Cannabis regulations possible. It shouldn’t be a surprise to most New Jerseyans given we are just 3 years into the recovery of 8 years of Chris Christie. We have one of the most progressive Governors in state history in Phil Murphy. Our Lt Gov is a Black woman named Sheila Oliver and Donald Trump lost. We should have expected some sort of backlash from lawmakers given the years of them kicking the cannabis can down the road. Senator Nick Scutari’s (D-22 dist.) frustration is not completely unfounded. He has to simultaneously be a leader and a teacher. A feat not easy to pull off when you have majority of the lower house and senate scrambling to sink the NJ Cannabis Industry at its inception as recompense for an overwhelming and historic yes vote. The root of all of the problems that is the Cannabis Industry lays at the feet of education or lack thereof. The most immediate and damning piece of evidence that points to lawmakers not being educated enough in Cannabis was the first sentence in question 1 on the ballot: Do you approve amending the Constitution to legalize a controlled form of marijuana called “cannabis”?

The question itself was factually written wrong and not one senator, assemblymen, or staff member in any office at the state house caught the mistake. That type of blunder has led to a series of other blunders made by lawmakers who have now chosen to become irreversibly tone deaf. Days after election night lawmakers in both the senate and lower house introduced bills where the term social equity didn’t appear once. All the while telling people social justice was their main motivation. The problem is there was zero social justice in the bills language. Record expungement is only up to 6 ounces and they placed caps on cultivation licenses. Micro licenses is the only way lawmakers would like to see people of color (POC) get into the Industry and home grow continues to be too advanced of a subject for this particular body fresh out. Jeff Oaks a prominent and highly respected NJMMP patient in person pleaded directly to lawmakers to pass home grow provisions so that patients could have access to medicine. An argument strengthened by the COVID-19 crisis and the states mishandling of the crisis as it relates to NJMMP patients passed away days after election night. Our comfort in his passing is that he can tell the victorious dead in heaven that we did it. The fight for home grow will continue to be lead by prominent activists like Ken Wolsky, Jim Miller, Jo Anne Zito, Edward “Lefty” Grimes and many more. Despite all of the expert testimony over the years’ lawmakers continue to allow their personal misgivings, and ignorance to taint the will of the people. There is still no home grow provision in the bill. See, tone deaf!!

We have two types of lawmakers in the NJ Senate and Assembly: Jetsons vs Flintstones. Those designators transcend race, religion, gender, and more importantly, age. There are some very young flintstones out there. I’ve also learned that there are some Jetsons pretending to flintstones because it is much more profitable for them to be a flintstone than it is to be a jetson. You know exactly who they are based on the words they use, the things they say, and the things they do. Cannabis legalization disturbs 3 types of revenue in NJ all of which have historically been financially beneficial to the state of NJ. Old money would be assigned to the Pharmaceutical Industry. They have been operating in NJ for generations and the reason why NJ is considered the medicine cabinet of the country. Long Money can be assigned to the alcohol Industry who have also been in the state for a very long time. Then there is Big Money which can be assigned to the Prison Industrial Complex which has been thriving evidenced by the ACLU’s arrest report for low level, nonviolent, minor possession of cannabis and how NJ spends $143,000,000 per year prosecuting and incarcerating people for those offenses. 80% of those arrest are of POC despite the fact black and white people use Cannabis at the same rate. The flintstones and Jetson pretenders are not going to let that go easily. Arresting and beating POC is a very real thing here in NJ. Lawmakers will literally look you in the eye, say social justice, and still try to save those three types of money. The real kicker is that lawmakers want to fund police departments with Cannabis revenue before taking care of communities most harmed by those very same police departments. Again the disconnect and tone deafness is quite palpable.

At the request of Leo Bridgewater and Jessica Gonzalez a very strong contingency of Industry experts, regulators of color, organizations and influencers from across the country have descended upon the state of NJ. They have made oral testimony and submitted written testimony. This contingency is includes key figures in the cannabis industry such as Dasheeda Dawson -City of Portland Cannabis Program Supervisor. Dr. Rachel Knox-a certified Cannabinoid Medicine specialist and spokesperson for Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, certified member of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine, and Chair for the Oregon Cannabis Commission. Tahir Johnson- Membership manager and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager of the National Cannabis Industry Association. Gia Moron-President of Women Grow. They and many others voluntarily availed themselves to the NJ Legislative Black Caucus, the Latino Legislative Caucus, the Capital City Area Black Caucus and even submitted actual bill language and memos. It’s been a week since email intros have been made and the only lawmaker who would take a meeting is Sen Nick Scutari. The silence from NJLBC, LLBC and CCABC is deafening, scary, and dangerous. I don’t know who is advising those organization but it definitely isn’t anyone I know and that is a troubling fact. I guess the old saying “skin folk ain’t always kin folk” would definitely apply here. At this point it seems our lawmakers are hell bent on NJ getting the “Cautionary” label of what not to do when legalizing cannabis. An unfortunate position to be when political and social tone deafness is en vogue during the age of Trump.