Legalization Gets Going In the Garden State!

By Jessica Gonzalez, ESQ.

On November 3, 2020, the state of New Jersey overwhelmingly approved cannabis legalization with over 67% of residents voting yes to public question number 1. When adult use legalization could not garner enough votes to pass legislatively in May 2019, legislators kicked it to New Jersey residents to decide for themselves. NJ residents made their will known and with a 67% approval rate, NJ waged the most successful cannabis campaign in the history of this country. Such a historic number amplifies the disconnect between legislators and its constituents who loudly and proudly proclaimed that adult-use cannabis is more than welcome in NJ. Now that voters have spoken, the time is ticking to pass enabling legislation that would create the regulatory framework for a new adult-use market. Time is of the essence because on January 1, 2021, the NJ constitution automatically changes to legalize adult-use cannabis. Racing against the clock, on November 6th, legislators introduced the enabling legislation titled the “New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act” (“A21/ S21”) only three days after the ballot count had been called. Confident in the numbers, legislators expected A21/ S21 to pass with flying colors, but such an expectation was quickly deflated when advocates and civically engaged organizations testified against A21/S21 on November 9th during legislative committee meetings.

Public outcries from advocates and advocacy groups (consisting of myself, Minorities for Medical Marijuana, Minority Cannabis Business Association, Cannaclusive, Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition and more) assisted in stalling the progress of A21/S2 which was pulled from further voting. Advocates demanded that legislators abide by the will of the people and pass equitable legislation that addresses the harms caused by NJ’s notorious participation

in the criminalization of cannabis. A review of S21/A21 revealed that it was a resurrected version of S2703, the adult use bill that failed to pass in May 2019, that excluded key social equity provisions necessary to assist communities most harmed by The War on Drugs. In the wake of George Floyd and the BLM movement, for legislators to exclude even the word social equity from appearing once in the initial version of A21/S21 signaled to advocates that A21/S21 was far from what voters voted for. The NJ cannabis legalization campaign, led by the NJCAN 2020 coalition, was centered around social equity and social justice, yet the proposed legislation failed to reflect any intent by the state to enact legislation that would benefit the communities impacted by the criminalization of cannabis. On November 19th, both the NJ Assembly and Senate introduced amendments that spoke to various social initiatives proposed by advocates. However, both amendments differed causing further delay and confusion as to what the final legislation will look like.

What is certain about the legislation is there will be six different license types ranging from cultivation, processing, wholesaling, distribution, retail (with consumption lounges) and delivery. For those looking to apply for any license type in NJ, A21/S21 provides the minimum requirements necessary to qualify. Right now, applicants have time on their side to get their ducks in a row, as we will likely see the issuance of adult use licenses in the latter half of 2021. First, we need enabling legislation to pass in NJ which is expected to occur before January 1, 2021. Concurrently, the five-member Cannabis Regulatory Commission (“CRC”) that will oversee both the medical and adult use market needs to take form as currently only the Chair and the Executive Director have been appointed. Once the CRC has been fully formed, the CRC must then introduce regulations for the adult use market which will be subject to public comment and then those regulations must be enacted. From the enactment of the regulations, the CRC will have a certain amount of time before they must begin accepting adult use license applications. Though it will take some time, we may see adult use sales earlier as the current medical operators will be able to dispense adult use cannabis upon certifying that they can meet patient demand.

As the first in the tri-state area to legalize, New Jersey has an opportunity to lead by example. It is my hope that NJ decision makers have the foresight to understand that without equitable legalization, we will succumb to the same implementation disasters seen in other states. Legislators must tune in to their advocates and constituents and implement legislation that speaks to what voters voted for in the first place.