It was an exciting week for the state of New Jersey when its voters decided that Phil Murphy should be the state’s next Governor.
It was even more so exciting for marijuana fans because Murphy has supported the legalizing of marijuana and has done so throughout his political campaign.
He is set to take office on Tuesday and New Jersey may be on the path of becoming the next state to legalize the drug under his ruling.
“The criminalization of marijuana has only served to clog our courts and cloud people’s futures, so we will legalize marijuana,” said Murphy before. “And while there are financial benefits, this is overwhelmingly about doing what is right and just.”
It was last summer that a bill to legalize the drug was introduced by Nicholas Scutari, state senator. Chris Christie, the Republican governor of the state was very vocal about how he feels about marijuana and it didn’t stand a chance to pass. This may now be different with Murphy getting into the office but it may take some time.
“Even though a marijuana legalization bill could be passed in the first 100 days [of Murphy’s administration], that doesn’t mean that we’ll immediately see an adult-use program,” remarked attorney Cristina Buccola. “Even with an aggressive timeline, it would likely take 18 months after the bill passes before adults 21 and older could start consuming cannabis.”
