An employee arranges glass display containers of marijuana on shelves at a retail and medical cannabis dispensary in Boulder, Colo. | AP Photo Marijuana could be sold in NJ convenience stores under bill put forward by GOP lawmaker

Should marijuana be treated like beer or cigarettes?

That right now is the biggest difference between how recreational marijuana would be legalized and regulated under two bills in the Assembly.


On Monday, Republican Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll — one of the most conservative members of the lower house — introduced a measure that would treat marijuana like tobacco products, allowing it to be sold to those aged 19 and over in unlimited amounts.

Vendors who sell marijuana to underage kids would face civil penalties, much like a convenience store would today for selling kids cigarettes. And yes, under the bill, marijuana could be available at convenience stores, Carroll said (text of the bill was not immediately available).

“To me it’s just not a big deal. It’s already ubiquitous. Anybody who thinks this is somehow going to increase the availability of marijuana has never been 19,” said Carroll. “If that’s the case, then what’s the big deal about having it available at the local 7-Eleven?”

Carroll’s bill (A4193), which would also allow past marijuana offenders to expunge their records, would set no limit on the amount of marijuana it’s legal to possess and would delete language on marijuana from the state’s criminal codes.

“The whole point here is to get the government out of the business of treating at least marijuana use as a crime and treat it instead as a social problem,” said Carroll, who added he’s never smoked marijuana.

“You’re talking to the world’s most boring, straightest guy. I’ve never popped a pill, never smoked a joint, nothing,” Carroll said. “I’ve never quite understood all the allure of this stuff.”

By contrast, a bill first put forward in 2014 by state Sen. Nicholas Scutari and Assemblyman Gusciora — one of the most liberal members of the Assembly — would treat marijuana more like alcohol, restricting its sale to those 21 and over.

The bill (A2068), which was reintroduced this year in the Assembly but not the Senate, would include far more specific regulations, including permitting only the possession of once ounce or less and the growing of no more than three mature, flowering plants. It also calls on the state to set standards for establishments that can grow and sell marijuana.

Gusciora said he and Scutari plan to introduce a new measure once Scutari gets back from a trip to Colorado, where marijuana is legal, that he’s organizing with other members of the Legislature in October.

Both Gusciora and Carroll said they see plenty of room for compromise on the final product.

"Mike comes from a Libertarian position, but I have no doubt he’ll be the prime sponsor of the legislation that comes out of the trip,” said Gusciora, who works as a municipal prosecutor in Princeton.

Whatever the final bill looks like, it almost certainly won’t make it past Gov. Chris Christie’s desk. Christie has vowed to veto any legislation that decriminalizes, let alone legalizes, the substance.

But Christie only has a little more than a year left in office.

“We would like to get the ball rolling, even with this governor and even if he vetoes it, the choice then could be made to put it on the ballot through the Legislature or set the groundwork for the next administration," Gusciora said. “I think it’s only a matter of time.”

Bill Caruso, a lobbyist who’s a founding steering committee member of New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform, said the change would likely be done legislatively, since New Jersey does not have initiative and referendum like some other states.

Caruso said he’s not taking sides on the two bills, but is optimistic that lawmakers are talking about it.

“We have the arguably most liberal member and the most conservative member finding common ground on a very important issue right now,” Caruso said. “This is an idea whose time is inevitable. Ultimately, whether it’s at the national level or here in New Jersey, we’re going to have a legalized marijuana economy. I think it’s important that legislators weigh in… and are not afraid of this debate.”