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Any hopes of marijuana being legal in New Jersey in the near future went up in smoke this week, but Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday he’ll refocus his efforts on expunging residents’ criminal records on pot charges.

“We are very seriously looking at that and talking to the legislative leadership,” Murphy said at the state League of Municipalities’ annual convention in Atlantic City.

The Democratic governor didn’t offer additional details.

Earlier this week, lawmakers announced voters will decide at the ballot next year whether to legalize pot — much to Murphy’s disappointment. The decision to put the issue in the hands of voters came after legislative leaders said they didn’t have the votes in the state Senate to pass a legal weed bill.

Expungement bills have stalled in the Democratic-controlled state Legislature.

In September, the state Senate failed to vote on Murphy’s changes to its expungement legislation on and instead introduced a new bill of its own.

State Sens. Sandra Cunningham, D-Hudson, and Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, along with Senate President Stephen Sweeney said at the time they introduced the new legislation to expand expungement. It proposed reforms to expungement eligibility and procedures for clearing marijuana and other qualified offenses in New Jersey.

Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said the measure would head straight to the floor the next time the Senate convenes for a vote, rather than going through committee. That’s because it’s largely the same bill, aside from removing just a few words the governor suggested.

The new bill would establish “clean slate” expungement, keeping with the governor’s recommendations to render certain convictions inaccessible after a 10-year period. It also would overhaul the application process to make all expungements more accessible.

Those currently paying off fines would also be eligible, and the collections would be transferred to the State Treasurer, according to the announcement.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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