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A new bill to legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey may be finalized by early next week, the Garden State’s top state lawmaker told NJ Advance Media on Friday, though it’s still uncertain when a vote will happen.

But even if the measure moves swiftly, you likely won’t be able to legally purchase weed here until at least the beginning of 2020, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney said.

Media outlets reported last week the Democrats who lead New Jersey had come to a tentative agreement on how to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana in the state, after months of disagreements and false starts.

Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said he hopes to have a final version of the bill to review by Monday, setting the stage for the Senate president and other leaders to begin corralling lawmakers to vote for the plan.

“Once we finally say, ‘Here is the bill,’ and we’re gonna have a hearing on it and we’re gonna put it up in committees, that’s when you can start talking about votes,” Sweeney said.

But Sweeney said even if the state Legislature was able to pass the measure next month, there’s a lot more to do before businesses licensed by the state can begin selling to people over the age of 21.

“You’ve got to set a commission up, they’ve got to set guidelines,” he said. “This is just my guess, but the earliest you’re going to be able to access legal weed would be January, if everything goes well.”

Still, progress is apparently being made.

Sweeney, Gov. Phil Murphy, and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, have been pushing for months to legalize pot — both to improve social justice in the state and to bring in more tax revenue. The three Democrats, however, had not been able to agree on the details of the plan.

But sources told NJ Advance Media last Friday that they deal in principle on a new bill which would tax pot by the ounce, rather than institute a percentage-based sales tax — which divided Murphy and Sweeney.

Neither Murphy nor Coughlin would say this week that a deal is done. But both stressed they are “optimistic” about getting weed legalized.

Now, the question is if the leaders can muster enough votes for the approve to pass the the two houses of the Democrat-controlled Legislature, the Senate and Assembly. Both chambers need to pass the bill before Murphy could sign it into law.

But lawmakers from both political parties have expressed opposition.

The bill needs 21 votes to pass the 40-member Senate, the Legislature’s upper chamber. Right now, at least a half-dozen of the Senate’s 25 Democrats have either said they won’t vote in favor of the plan or are on the fence. Leaders would need to either convince some of them to vote yes or get support from some Republicans to push the measure over.

A Monmouth University Poll released Monday found 6 in 10 New Jersey adults support legalizing recreational marijuana — a slight increase from the group’s last survey on the matter, from last April.

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

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