NJ legal weed vote: Marijuana legalization to be decided in the 2020 election

TRENTON – After nearly two years of back-and-forth over legalizing marijuana, New Jersey legislative leaders announced Monday that legal weed is heading to the polls, setting up a pivotal ballot question in the 2020 election.

If voters approve the measure, New Jersey would become the 12th state to legalize marijuana for adult use. All but two of the states — Vermont and Illinois — have legalized weed via ballot measures.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, introduced a constitutional amendment that he expects to appear on the ballot in the 2020 election.

Sweeney and Sen. Nicholas Scutari, who sponsored a stalled New Jersey legal weed bill, said they simply couldn’t find enough support in the Senate to get a marijuana legalization bill passed. 

“This initiative will bring cannabis out of the underground so that it can be controlled to ensure a safe product, strictly regulated to limit use to adults and have sales subjected to the sales tax,” Sweeney and Scutari said in a statement. 

If voters legalize weed in New Jersey in November 2020, it would take effect on Jan. 1. The law would only regulate marijuana bought, sold and used for recreational purposes; it would not impact the New Jersey medical marijuana program, which underwent its own series of changes earlier this year. [Read More @ The Asbury Park Press]