Earlier today, the New Jersey Senate and Assembly passed enabling legislation to legalize recreational cannabis in the Garden State. The bill, which sets the regulatory framework for the new legal cannabis industry, comes on the heels of New Jersey voters approving cannabis legalization on the General Election ballot in November. In response to this historic vote, New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) releases the following statement.

Brandon McKoy, President, NJPP:

“This is a historic day for New Jersey and a pivotal step toward dismantling the failed War on Drugs, which has disproportionately harmed Black and Latinx communities. Today’s vote codifies the will of the voters who overwhelmingly passed marijuana legalization on the November ballot. It also says loud and clear that prohibition does not work.

“While there is still much work to be done to improve New Jersey’s legal market and fully secure equity, this bill is the culmination of years of hard work by social justice advocates who insisted on doing legalization the right way. This bill will use the tax revenue from legal cannabis sales to invest in communities harmed most by the drug war. NJPP applauds the countless advocates, grassroots activists, state lawmakers, and everyone else who made today’s vote possible.”

New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) is a nonpartisan think tank that drives policy change to advance economic, social, and racial justice through evidence-based, independent research, analysis, and advocacy. In 2016, NJPP released a landmark report detailing how a legal cannabis market could net the state over $300 million in annual revenue, grounding the legalization debate in hard facts and figures.