“It's something I believe strongly in, but the votes aren't there. I'm disappointed,” Sweeney said, but added: “The 2020 general election, I think, will be successful, and we will move forward with adult use.” | AP Photo | AP Photo Legal pot bill dead: New Jersey lawmakers to move ahead with 2020 referendum

New Jersey’s top lawmaker said Tuesday he was giving up on the effort to legalize recreational marijuana through the Legislature and would instead put the issue up for voters to decide next year.

Senate President Steve Sweeney also said he would move forward with bills to expand the state’s medical cannabis program and expunge existing marijuana convictions.


During a press conference at the Statehouse in Trenton, Sweeney acknowledged he and other supporters of legal pot — including Gov. Phil Murphy — had failed to secure enough votes in the Senate to pass the bill. He said it now makes sense to put the issue to voters in 2020, when turnout will be the strongest.

“The votes aren't there. I'm disappointed,” Sweeney said, but added: “The 2020 general election, I think, will be successful, and we will move forward with adult use.”

In doing so, Sweeney — a rival of Murphy’s and the Legislature’s top Democrat — killed one of Murphy’s top policy priorities and a central plank of his 2017 campaign for governor.

“I know the governor tried. We would speak two or three times a week when we were trying to get it done, but there was never a list of votes provided to me to show they were close,” Sweeney said, shucking aside the brief détente that had existed between the two Democrats earlier this spring. “The governor didn’t listen to the advice that legislators gave him.”

Murphy’s hopes for a legal cannabis industry are now a casualty in the ongoing war between New Jersey leaders over a tax incentive program that has benefited businesses linked to South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross. Norcross, a childhood friend of Sweeney’s who despises Murphy, has floated the possibility of backing a primary challenger if and when Murphy seeks reelection in 2021.

Sweeney’s announcement further highlighted the difficulties associated with legalizing cannabis through an act of the Legislature. Only one of the nine states — plus the District of Columbia — that permits the recreational use of marijuana did so through legislation: Vermont.

It also takes the issue out of Murphy’s hands. The Legislature can put a marijuana legalization referendum on the ballot by passing a measure with simple majorities in consecutive years. The governor has no formal role in the process.

While Sweeney conceded he had been unable to sway South Jersey lawmakers to support legalization, he also put some of the blame on Murphy, saying the governor’s decision to announce a unilateral expansion of the medical marijuana program limited his ability to pry on-the-fence senators into backing the bill.

At an unrelated press conference in East Windsor later Wednesday, Murphy rejected Sweeney’s premise, saying the growing number of medical cannabis patients in the state was about to trigger a potential shortage of medical cannabis.

“I reject being blamed for trying to help citizens out who have nowhere else to turn, whose lives are at stake or quality of life is a stake,” Murphy said. “I wouldn’t call that blame. This is my responsibility as governor.”

Sweeney said he’ll work with Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and sponsors to “update” the legislation and get the bills passed by the end of June.

“I’m disappointed that we are currently unable to pass the adult-use cannabis bill,” Coughlin said in a statement. “I agree with the Senate President’s decision to move ahead with a bill to fix the flaws in the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act and make medical marijuana more accessible to patients who could benefit from it.

“I am pleased to learn the Senate President also plans to act on legislation that would revise the procedures for expunging records of certain marijuana-related convictions, Coughlin stated. “Broader regulation around expungement will give thousands of New Jerseyans the opportunity to right the wrongs of the past and clean the slate making it easier to gain employment, buy a home or get a loan.“

Murphy said he’s open to signing both bills, but “the devil will be in the details.”

Sweeney had tied the legalization bill, NJ S2703 (18R), to the two other measures relating to the state’s burgeoning medical marijuana industry and criminal justice reform.

The first, NJ S10 (18R), is a bipartisan bill that would expand the medical cannabis program by increasing monthly prescription amounts to three ounces and creating separate permits for medical marijuana cultivators, processors and dispensaries. The bill also allows physician assistants and advanced practice nurses to prescribe medical cannabis to patients.

The Murphy administration, through the Department of Health, moved to replicate some of what’s in the bill earlier this week — most notably by breaking up the permits for different types of cannabis businesses.

Another bill, NJ A4498 (18R), created new processes for clearing old criminal records. Individuals would be eligible for the new form of expungement — called “clean slate” in the legislation — if they’re at least 10 years removed from their most recent conviction, fine, satisfactory completion of probation or parole or release from incarceration.

The expungement bill doesn’t specifically address more recent convictions, however. Absent the legalization bill, it’s unclear how the Legislature will create language that would allow individuals to clear their records of a conviction for something that’s still a crime.

That wasn’t clear to Murphy, either.

“Are we expunging something in the past that is still illegal today?” he asked.

Separate language in the legalization bill would have allowed ex-offenders to expunge third-degree marijuana distribution felonies from their records, essentially allowing anyone who had possessed up to five pounds to clear their name.

The inclusion of that language kept some moderate Democrats, like Sen. Dawn Addiego (D-Burlington), and some Republicans from supporting legalization, multiple sources told POLITICO. Sweeney said the five-pound level is too high.

Sweeney and Coughlin canceled a scheduled vote on all three measures in March after it became clear the recreational legislation didn't have enough support to pass in the Senate. Legislative leaders, along with Murphy, were hopeful the Democrat-controlled Legislature would take another crack at the bills this month, but that didn’t happen.