By Parker Abramson

Governor Phil Murphy, along with the Democratic leaders of the New Jersey legislation,  is working on a bill to make the use of recreational marijuana legal in the state of New Jersey, as well as create an industry to grow and sell it (NJ.com). While medical marijuana is legal in New Jersey, it is illegal to buy or sell marijuana without a medical marijuana license.

The legalization bill would prohibit the sale of marijuana to anyone under the age of 21 and limit the amount of cannabis someone can use and be in possession of to one ounce. That being said, users will no longer be arrested for having marijuana. They will only be arrested if they do not abide by the laws proposed in the bill, for example, being younger than twenty-one or having more than one ounce. This also means that past convictions of being in the possession of marijuana illegally in New Jersey will be expunged, meaning that the record of that conviction or arrest will be erased and no longer able to be found. In addition, the bill calls for a 12% tax on commercial marijuana with an extra 2% tax added for towns which are hosting a cannabis business.

The bill is still being debated and perfected by the New Jersey Senate and the New Jersey Assembly, so the proposed bill may change by the time is it put on the voting ballots. That being said, while there is a small possibility this bill can be voted on this year, it will most likely not be implemented until 2020 at the earliest.