New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has signed legislation that legalizes and regulates marijuana use and possession for adults 21 years of age and older.
The legislation also decriminalizes possession of marijuana and hashish, his office announced Monday.
“Our current marijuana banning laws have failed all social justice trials, which is why for years I have strongly supported the legalization of adult cannabis,” Murphy said in a statement.
“Maintaining a status quo that allows for the disproportionate detention of thousands of people of color each year in New Jersey for low-level drug offenses is unfair and indefensible,” he added.
“This November, New Jerseyers overwhelmingly voted in favor of creating a well-regulated adult cannabis market. Although this process has taken longer than expected, I think it will end up in the right place and will eventually serve as a national model.
According to the Asbury Park Press, the measure makes New Jersey the 13th state in the country to legalize drugs for recreational use for adults.
New Jersey residents voted last November in favor of a constitutional amendment allowing the possession, sale and use of cannabis for residents 21 years of age or older, making it a state the first approve the legalization of marijuana as an electoral measure.
Murphy, who has been governor of Garden State since 2018, pushed for its legalization during his campaign. However, the issue was put to the vote in the 2020 general election after her could not be retrieved enough support for the state legislature.
In his announcement Monday, Murphy described the state’s move to legalize the drug as a “monumental step forward in reducing racial disparities in our criminal justice system, while building a promising new industry and staying on the right side.” of history “.
According to one analysis of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) more than 7 million people in the country were arrested for possession between 2001 and 2010.
Although blacks and whites in the United States consumed marijuana at about the same rate at the time, according to the analysis, blacks were almost four times more likely to be arrested for possession of marijuana.
His. Cory Booker
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“The failed War on Drugs has systematically targeted people of color and the poor, disproportionately affecting black and brown communities and hurting families in New Jersey and our entire nation,” Booker said, while he vowed to work with colleagues in the Senate “to end the federal marijuana ban so we can finally begin to heal the wounds of decades of injustice.”
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D), whom Murphy’s office declared as the “main advocate for legalizing adult marijuana” in the past ten years, said the measure “will give way to a new one. it was social justice by eliminating the failed policy that criminalized marijuana use. “
“He has been arrested, imprisoned and left with too many criminal records that disrupt and even destroy their lives. We do not want the criminal justice system to be an unfair barrier to success,” he said.
One of Murphy’s bills signed Monday, A1897, includes reforms to criminal and civil sanctions for marijuana and hashish crimes, his office said, and “provides resources for people currently facing certain charges of marijuana “.
The legislation, his office also stated, will prevent “illegal offenses of low-level distribution and possession from being used in pre-trial detention, parole and parole decisions and provide certain protections against employment discrimination.” , housing and public accommodation. “
In addition, it provides a path for the vacancy of active sentences for certain crimes committed before the implementation of the legislation.
Another bill signed by Murphy on Monday, S3454, clarifies “sanctions for the possession and consumption of marijuana and cannabis for people under the age of 21,” his office said.
The move comes about a year after Murphy signed legislation that passed it sealed records of low-level marijuana convictions once the sentence is served.
Carly Wolf, state policy manager for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said Monday that the legislation signed by Murphy was “long overdue.”
“From now on, tens of thousands of law-abiding New Jersey residents will no longer be subject to detention or criminal records for their personal use of marijuana, and the commercial market will be regulated fairly and inclusive,” Wolf added in a statement. communiqué.
“For the past fifty years, the criminalization of marijuana has been used as a tool to drive mass imprisonment,” state Sen. Sandra Cunningham (DN.J.) also said in a statement. “It has done immeasurable damage to black and brown communities across the country and today we are beginning to steer the ship here in New Jersey.”
“I am looking forward to seeing the tangible impact this legislation has on our communities in the coming years,” he added.
Updated at 2:29 p.m.