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Gov. Phil Murphy announced last week he’s giving the state Legislature until May to pass a pair of linked bills — one that would legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey and another that would expand the state’s medical marijuana program. Otherwise, he said, he’ll have no choice but to expand medicinal pot on his own to reach more patients.

But top state lawmakers are worried Murphy’s announcement may hurt their chances of finally legalizing weed in the coming weeks, three legislative sources told NJ Advance Media.

And if pot isn’t legalized by the end of next month, it may not happen until the end of the year, said the sources, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive matter.

It’s the latest behind-the-scenes hiccup in the more than year-long push by Murphy and other Democratic leaders to make marijuana legal for people 21 and over in the Garden State.

Long story short: The Democrats who lead the Legislature hope to legalize recreational pot and expand medical pot at the same time.

Sources say the bill expanding the medicinal program has plenty of support to pass. But the measure legalizing recreational weed has fewer backers, and legislative leaders have bundled the two together to drum up support.

Last month, though, a planned vote on both bills fell apart when it became clear the recreational measure would not have enough votes to pass in the state Senate.

In response, Murphy said he planned to sign an executive order within days expanding medical marijuana to cover up to 200,000 patients in the state. The Democratic governor said they had already waited long enough for the much-needed boost.

Murphy shelved those plans after legislative leaders expressed concern the order would give some lawmakers on the fence a reason to avoid voting to legalize recreational marijuana, since they know medical pot will be expanded either way.

But Murphy then announced the May deadline.

“We’re not gonna wait around a lot,” he said.

A report from the state Department of Health this week said New Jersey needs 18 new growers of medical pot and 44 new retailers.

Now, Murphy and legislative leaders are working behind the scenes to secure the final few votes needed in the Senate to pass the recreational weed bill.

The main sponsor, state Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, said Wednesday the goal is for the Legislature to vote sometime in May, though it won’t happen if they haven’t locked down enough votes by then.

But even though Murphy has delayed his executive order, sources say legislative leaders — who sometimes clash with the governor — remain in a bind because lawmakers still have an excuse to vote against recreational marijuana if medical pot expansion stays on the horizon.

One source said Murphy should have withheld making the announcement. Another said it’s one reason a vote is more likely to happen in the lame duck period after the November elections, when Assembly members won’t have to worry about alienating voters and horse-trading among lawmakers ramps up.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, declined to comment Wednesday.

But Sweeney has said that he considers medical marijuana expansion to be a “back door” to legalizing recreational pot and that he’d prefer for Murphy and top lawmakers to “stick to our agreement” to approve both bills at the same time.

A Murphy administration official dismissed lawmakers’ concerns as “anonymous nonsense.”

Murphy himself said Wednesday he’s “still optimistic” the Legislature will vote to legalize marijuana, though he doesn’t know when. He also stressed that expanding medical pot must happen sooner than later.

“That’s something we can’t have unending patience on,” the governor said during a Facebook Live interview with 1010 WINS radio in New York City. “We’re gonna have to make a move on that through executive action if we can’t get to that legislatively.”

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

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