Now fourteen states and DC have legalized cannabis.
New Jersey has officially become the last state to allow recreational use of marijuana.
The New Jersey state legislature on Monday passed a series of bills regulating the sale of cannabis to anyone over the age of 21. Gov. Phil Murphy said he signed the bills later.
“This legislation will establish an industry that provides economic and equitable opportunities to our communities, while setting minimum standards for safe products and allows law enforcement to focus their resources on real public safety issues,” he said in a statement.
Voters overwhelmingly passed a voting measure last November that changed the state constitution to allow the legalization of marijuana.
Under the new rules, the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) will oversee licensing applications for cannabis companies.
“The legislation also provides for the legislature to reinvest cannabis revenues in designated ‘impact zones’; it orders the CRC to promote diversity and inclusion in business ownership; and it contains fundamental protections for people who have lawful behavior with respect to cannabis, ”the governor’s office said in a press release.
One of the new laws reforms sanctions for low-level marijuana offenses. “It prevents the use of low-level distribution and possession offenses in pre-trial detention, probation and parole decisions and provides certain protections against discrimination in employment, housing and public housing,” according to the governor’s cabinet.
Another part of the approved legislation will apply sanctions for the sale of marijuana to under-21s.
State lawmakers took weeks to draft the bills and pass them due to certain concerns about sanctions and ensuring that the sale of minors was banned.
“While this process has taken longer than expected, I believe it ends in the right place and will ultimately serve as a national model,” Murphy said in a statement.
Proponents who have been pushing states and the country to legalize and regulate marijuana said approving the bills was a big win. DeVaughn Ward, the senior legislative counsel for the nonprofit group, Marijuana Policy Project, told ABC News that New Jersey law “will create avenues toward restorative justice and fairness.”
“It took a lot of commitment and a lot of work on behalf of the legislative leaders and Governor Murphy to achieve this across the finish line and he should be commended for his efforts,” he said in a statement.
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia allow the sale of recreational and medicinal marijuana.
The Virginia state legislature will have to vote on a bill that would legalize marijuana in its state, and Gov. Ralph Northam has expressed support.