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Marijuana legalization in New Jersey could happen as soon as next month, or it could be much later.

But the state lawmaker behind the legal weed bill said it was not a matter of if — but a matter of when — legalization happens in the Garden State.

At an event hosted by NJ Cannabis Insider, state Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, said that the goal is to to have the state Legislature vote on the measure in May, but that it would only happen if the votes were in place. If not, he said, the vote would be delayed again.

Last week, a vote on legalization was canceled because there wasn’t enough support in the state Senate for the bill. In the days after, lawmakers and Gov. Phil Murphy said they were now aiming to hold the vote in May.

Scutari said he spoke with Murphy, a fellow Democrat, and his team on Tuesday and that they were still working to secure the votes to legalize marijuana.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, had previously said that if legal weed wasn’t done by the spring, he would push the vote until after the election in November. So now it’s a waiting game to see if lawmakers can gather support in the coming weeks.

Murphy and the two leaders of the Democratic-controlled Legislature — Sweeney and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex — have downplayed the setback of last week’s vote being canceled and said they would make another go at passing the bill. They just haven’t publicly specified when.

“History is rarely made at the first attempt,” Murphy said during a news conference after the vote was scuttled last week. “History is often a bumpy road of fits and starts and setbacks.”

Sources have told NJ Advance Media that they are short just one or two votes in the Senate.

But how Murphy and legislative leaders try to get those final votes will be crucial. It’s unclear whether they’ll have to make major alterations to the bill or simply amp up negotiations with lawmakers leaning no or on the fence.

Scutari on Wednesday said that he doesn’t think the legalization bill will need major changes, echoing what the governor said last week.

“My gut tells me it’s more tweaking than not,” the governor said at an unrelated news conference in Newark.

The next day both the Senate and the Assembly will hold voting sessions at the Statehouse in Trenton is May 13, meaning lawmakers have a month and a half to swing the last few votes.

Payton Guion may be reached at PGuion@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaytonGuion.

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