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With hopes of a legislative vote to legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey pretty much up in smoke, some state lawmakers now say it’s time to expand the Garden State’s medical marijuana program.

“It’s time to pivot,” state Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, a key Republican lawmaker, said at a news conference in at the Statehouse in Trenton on Tuesday.

“We need to focus on what we can get done rather than continue to focus on what some people would like to get done and possibly risk getting nothing done,” O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, said.

The push for recreational marijuana has stalled for lack of support in the state Senate, and was declared “all but dead” by three legislative sources last week as the already difficult process was complicated by a controversy over tax breaks consumed Trenton and sparked a civil war among Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and South Jersey power broker George Norcross III.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said the issue could be put to voters, probably in November 2020. Legislative leaders have not publicly said the legal weed fight is over or disclosed any plans for a referendum vote.

O’Scanlon and others who want to see medical marijuana expanded in the state may not have to wait long for long for the state Legislature to take up a vote.

One legislative source told NJ Advance Media that even if the recreational bill dies, it’s possible lawmakers could vote on a pair of related measures in the coming weeks or months — one to expand the medical marijuana program and another to expunge the records of residents with pot convictions of up to 5 pounds.

On Monday, Murphy’s administration announced that the state Health Department will next week have new legal authority to expand the supply and demand for medical cannabis in New Jersey. Murphy has vowed to take action to expand the medical marijuana program if the effort to legalize weed does not materialize in the Legislature.

O’Scanlon on Tuesday pledged to help lead the push for medical expansion and keep the conversation at the forefront.

He was joined by the parents of Jake Honig, who died last year at the age of seven. Jake, who was battling brain cancer, used medicinal cannabis, which his parents say worked better than the prescription drugs he was given by the doctors treating him.

But under current rules, Jake was limited to the amount of medical marijuana he could get, which meant he would be forced to use prescription drugs that his parents argued didn’t work as well as cannabis.

The "Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act” would allow terminal and hospice patients unlimited amount of cannabis. Other patients would be able to buy 2.5 ounces a month for the first six months after the law takes effect and rise to 3 ounces six months later, according to the bill (S10).

“We would give Jake his medical cannabis and it would completely turn around his symptoms,” Mike Honig, Jake’s father, said.

“He would be Jake again. It was unbelievable the difference between medical cannabis and modern medicine,” he said. “We’re urging for the medical bill to be separated and to be approved sooner than later.”

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

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

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