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The mad scramble to legalize marijuana in New Jersey is so tight, even Whoopi Goldberg got into the act Friday.

The Oscar-winning actress and comedian called a handful of state lawmakers as Gov. Phil Murphy and his fellow Democratic leaders fight to wrangle enough votes for the state Legislature to pass a bill Monday that would legalize recreational pot here, NJ Advance Media has learned.

As of Friday afternoon, the leaders were only a few — maybe as few as two — votes short of the number they need for the measure to pass the state Senate, four sources with knowledge of the situation said.

But convincing the final few lawmakers to secure the 21 votes required to pass the bill in the Legislature’s upper house may be tough and could require flipping some who are against it, according the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Goldberg, a West Orange resident who has ties to the marijuana industry, on Friday called a handful of women lawmakers who are either on the fence or leaning against the bill, three sources told NJ Advance Media.

She also wrote an op-ed about the matter that was published Friday in USA Today and other Gannett news outlets.

Goldberg founded a company in 2016 that manufacturers edibles and skin care products made from cannabis called Whoopi & Maya. But her involvement with cannabis goes back to her teenage years, when she discovered the drug relieved her debilitating menstrual cramps, she wrote in the op-ed.

“As I have grown older, and questionably wiser, I have maintained a healthy relationship with marijuana," Goldberg wrote. “I now use marijuana, through a vape pen, to relieve headaches from glaucoma.”

“For countless adults across New Jersey, myself included, marijuana has never been about getting high just for the sake of it," she continued. “And, that’s something that lawmakers on Monday need to remember. The unhinged and dire doomsday prophecies of some simply have not come to fruition elsewhere, nor will they in New Jersey.”

Goldberg did not immediately return a message from NJ Advance Media seeking comment Friday.

State Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Bergen, confirmed that Goldberg called her Friday morning and made a respectful and persuasive case to support the legalization bill during their 45-minute conversation.

But Huttle remains in the “no” column.

“She feels this is a great piece of legislation, and we can be a leader for the rest of the country,” Huttle said. “She was persuasive in her facts, but I also have unanswered questions that deal with behavioral health issues.”

Respected organizations like the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the American Academy of Pediatrics do not support marijuana legalization, Huttle noted.

“I am not concerned about adult cannabis," she said. “It’s opening up the door to kids under 21, giving that credibility and releasing the stigma. That’s my main concern.”

Huttle said the only way she could be persuaded to vote yes is if her constituents in Bergen County overwhelmingly urged her to do so. Right now, the calls and emails are running 50-50 yes and no, she said.

Goldberg isn’t the only notable name to come out in favor of the legal pot push in New Jersey.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, the New Jersey Democrat who is running for president, also tweeted his support Friday.

NJ is set to vote on a marijuana legalization bill that has strong measures to reverse the damage of the War on Drugs.



I hope this bill passes & NJ can lead the nation on this. Marijuana legalization & social justice *must* go hand in hand. We can’t have one without the other. — Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) March 22, 2019

Meanwhile, New Jersey’s two black members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Donald Payne Jr., D-10th Dist., and Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist., both endorsed the measure this week.

The Rev. Al Sharpton also took to Twitter this week to lobby for the bill:

Received a briefing from @GovMurphy on the marijuana legalization bill in NJ. Very impressed by the strong social justice components - expedited expungement, virtual expungement, and M/WBE prioritization. It's time to get this passed NJ!!! — Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) March 19, 2019

And the Democratic mayors of New Jersey’s two largest cities — Newark’s Ras Baraka and Jersey City’s Steve Fulop — endorsed the proposal Friday.

The support from major black figures is notable because a number of African-American state lawmakers are against the bill, saying it will negatively affect communities of color in New Jersey.

Supporters say it will help improve social justice in the state because black people are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana offenses than whites.

The bill would legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana for people 21 and older in New Jersey. It would need to be approved by both houses of the Democratically controlled Legislature — the Senate and Assembly — before Murphy, a major legal pot proponent, could sign it into law.

As of Friday afternoon, a vote tracker conducted by NJ Advance Media shows there are at least eight members of the Senate who are planning to vote yes and 23 planning to vote no. If those no votes hold up, the measure would fail Monday.

Still, sources caution that some of those lawmakers currently against the bill could change their mind.

The vote tracker currently shows 14 Assembly members say they plan to vote yeas and 18 plan to vote no, with 48 members undecided.

“We’ve made progress, but we’re not over the goal line” Murphy said Friday at an unrelated news conference in Livingston.

If leaders cannot muster enough votes by Monday, it’s likely the vote will be called off and another may not be scheduled until the end of the year.

Murphy and top Democratic lawmakers are expected to continue contacting lawmakers throughout the weekend. Sources say they may not know the bill’s fate until Monday morning, just before the planned vote.

“We’re not there yet, but we’re still fighting,” one source said.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Matt Arco, Payton Guion, Jonathan D. Salant, and Justin Zaremba contributed to this report.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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