Significant elements of the legalization bill, including the size of the tax local governments could impose on sales, haven’t been finalized. | Mel Evans/AP Photo Sweeney: Don’t expect legal cannabis in New Jersey until at least January

TRENTON — New Jersey’s top lawmakers are moving forward with a plan to legalize cannabis for recreational use, but new dispensaries aren’t likely to open any time soon.

“I think, best case scenario, you’re going to have marijuana available legally [in] January,” Senate President Steve Sweeney told reporters after a voting session on Thursday. “I’ve got to tell you guys, honest to God, the bill isn’t finished.”


Sweeney, Gov. Phil Murphy and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin reached a consensus late last week on how New Jersey’s recreational cannabis industry would be taxed and regulated, clearing away two of the largest obstacles that had impeded discussions on legalization.

Even so, significant elements of the legalization bill, including the size of the tax local governments could impose on sales, haven’t been finalized. The most recent version of the legislation NJ S2703 (18R), holds the local excise tax at 2 percent. Local government leaders, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and the New Jersey State League of Municipalities say they’d like to carve out as much as 5 percent of the gross proceeds.

On Thursday, Sweeney said the state would absorb whatever costs local governments incur to train law enforcement officers on drug recognition and enforcement methods, which he estimated would account for around a single percentage point of cannabis-related tax revenues.

The Senate president also said the legislation would include language to allow for a review of the tax rate after three years to ensure the black market isn’t continuing to flourish.

The agreement struck by Murphy, Sweeney and Coughlin would impose a $42-per-ounce tax on recreational cannabis sales. It also would allow Murphy to make his own picks for a five-member Cannabis Regulatory Commission without the Senate’s approval, waiving a procedural hurdle that could have held up the development of the state’s cannabis industry.

They also pledged to work collectively to whip votes in the Senate and Assembly to bring the bill over the finish line. As it stands, Republicans and several Democrats who oppose legalization stand in the way of the measure getting passed by either house.

In the Senate, multiple sources told POLITICO that Murphy and Sweeney have identified seven Democrats who are still on the fence.

“I know how many votes I can whip. And so does the Speaker,” Sweeney said. “This is going to be the governor. The governor’s going to have to provide votes if we’re going to get it done … If we come up short, we come up short.”