Notwithstanding Governor Murphy’s pledge to legalize marijuana within his first one-hundred days in office, many local governments have taken action of their own which would generally keep the (soon to be) state-legal marijuana out of their municipalities. Specifically, many municipalities are considering - or have already passed - legislation that would generally prohibit recreational marijuana retailers and other businesses involved in the retail or growing process from opening up shop within their borders. For example, earlier this week, Middletown, New Jersey ...

Members of the NJ legislature who have been opposed to marijuana legalization introduced proposed legislation that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The bill is proffered as a compromise piece of legislation intended to accomplish some of Governor Murphy’s objectives but avoids legalizing marijuana. Under the bill, a person caught with less than 10 grams of marijuana would face a fine of $100 for a first offense, and increasing fines for subsequent offenses. The goal of the bill is to reduce the number of people incarcerated and involved in the ...

A recent poll by Fairleigh Dickinson showed than 68 percent of New Jerseyans favor changing the State’s marijuana laws, but when those numbers are broken down only 42 percent favor full legalization while 26 percent favor mere decriminalization.

This is where public education is necessary. Those 26 percent of people who favor decriminalization probably feel that way because they do not like the racial disparities that exist in the criminal enforcement of marijuana or how too many people are sitting in prison for marijuana convictions. The mere decriminalization of marijuana ...

At the forefront of any argument against legalization of marijuana are concerns that legalization will lead to an increase in DWI’s and traffic accidents. New Jersey’s recent push to legalize recreational use of Marijuana has recently garnered similar arguments from New Jersey State Senator Joe Pennacio. Several studies set out to determine whether these concerns were warranted. One such study was conducted by the American Journal of Public Health (“AJPH”).

The AJPH researchers analyzed federal data on fatal car crashes from 2009 to 2015. The AJPH, “found no ...

New Jersey’s 56th Governor, Phil Murphy, has indicated his intent to sign into law sensible regulation of non-medical marijuana when it crosses his desk.  It may only be a matter of time before New Jersey will join the trend toward legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for people 21 years of age and older.  Therefore, it is important for New Jersey’s trust & estate and elder law attorneys to be conscious of the issues they may face in their practices if and when such legislation becomes law.

Issues to be considered by trust & estate and elder law attorneys include: the potential ...

Last week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded a 2013 federal policy concerning enforcement of Marijuana laws.  That 2013 policy -- the so-called Cole Memo -- instructed U.S. Attorneys to prosecute marijuana offenses based on discretion and available resources and to focus its enforcement efforts on priorities that are particularly important to the federal government, such as keeping marijuana out of the hands of minors, drug cartels and inter-state trafficking.  However, the Cole Memo told federal prosecutors to allow states (particularly those that had legalized ...

Sale of marijuana for recreational use may soon be legal in New Jersey.  Governor Phil Murphy has signaled his support for sensible regulation of marijuana consistent with what many view to be the successful approach implemented in Colorado and Washington.  Should legalization occur in New Jersey, it is conceivable that residents of neighboring states, such as New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, will seek to obtain marijuana in New Jersey for enjoyment back in their home state.

In 2014, neighboring states Nevada and Oklahoma sought to sue Colorado for the allegedly increased ...

While many states have moved to legalize medical marijuana and several others have legalized even recreational marijuana, it remains illegal at the federal level. This was never much of a problem before, because the Obama Justice Department had issued a memorandum that essentially halted the prosecution of federal marijuana prosecutions in most instances. This week, however, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rescinded that memorandum and suggested that the federal government may once again crack down on federal marijuana crimes.

You can read more about it here and we will ...

Now that Phil Murphy has been elected and declared marijuana legalization to be one of his top priorities for his first 100 days, NJ Advance Media lays out what it sees as the timeline for the legalization of marijuana in New Jersey: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/11/could_recreational_marijuana_be_legal_in_365_days.html

This week, Governor Chris Christie signed a bill that expands access to medical marijuana. Specifically, those diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may now obtain a prescription for medical marijuana. When signing the bill, Governor Christie noted that up to 20% of veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars suffer from PTSD and that medical marijuana should be available to them after it has been decided that conventional treatment is not working.

For more ...

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