Gov. Phil Murphy isn’t thrilled that marijuana legalization is going on the ballot and not to his desk.
“I won’t comment on the specifics of it, but it’s better than nothing,” he said. “We always thought that that was the default: Get in on the ballot next year as a referendum. And, again, it’s better than nothing, and that’s not insignificant.”
On Monday, lawmakers in both chambers of the legislature advanced a constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use marijuana.
The measure passed in the Senate 24-16 and in the Assembly 49-24 with one abstention.
In both cases, the measure got a 60% supermajority, meaning lawmakers will not have to pass the constitutional amendment again next year to get it on the ballot.
The vote on marijuana won’t happen until next November.
“I want to remind everyone, in the meantime 600 people per week — so that’ll be over 30,000 people by the time we get to this referendum — will be arrested for low end drug crimes, most of which are marijuana,” Murphy said. “And they will be overwhelmingly persons of color and overwhelmingly male persons of color.”
Murphy separately announced he would sign a bill allowing people with criminal records to have marijuana offenses expunged. Both chambers passed that bill Monday.
Some officials, including Murphy, have suggested the state might decriminalize marijuana as as a stop-gap until that vote takes place.
There’s been little movement on that issue in the legislature so far, though legislative leaders have not ruled out decriminalizing in the last weeks of the lame duck session.
“I think we’re meeting with Rice and others. If we can get it done, if not, we’ll get it done right afterwards,” Senate President Steve Sweeney said Monday. “There was supposed to be a meeting today with the senator, but we were kind of busy today, as you can imagine.”
Senate Democrats spent much of Monday attempting to whip votes in favor of a bill eliminating a religious vaccination exemption for school-aged children, though they still fell short of 21 votes by the day’s end.
Among Democrats, State Sen. Ron Rice has been legalization’s most vocal opponent and one of the foremost advocates for decriminalization.
A New Jersey Globe tally has found Senate Democrats have more than enough votes to pass decriminalization, though the support of some members is contingent upon the final version of the bill, which has yet to be drafted.
Murphy himself has previously indicated — with some trepidation — support for short-term decriminalization.
Comments he made on Tuesday suggest his stance on the matter hasn’t shifted.
“The status quo is unacceptable,” Murphy said. “That’s also why we’re going to take some steps, which I’ll leave for another discussion, to ease the pain now and then.”
It may take weeks yet before Democrats reach a deal on decriminalization, and Murphy also has the option to change how the state handles marijuana laws through administrative action.
Still, legalization remains the goal.
“I want this to happen, and it must happen,” he said. “Just because it’s later than I want it doesn’t mean I don’t want it.”