Despite what felt like sea-changing momentum, marijuana legalization in New York and New Jersey have met serious roadblocks — and at almost exactly the same time. Just a few months ago, it had seemed all but certain in both states, with supportive governors backing progressive legalization poised to pass Democratic-controlled statehouses. Then, in the span of just a few days in late March, both states saw their efforts fall apart. Officials remain optimistic, but refuse to give a timetable for possible legalization.

In New Jersey, lawmakers reportedly had the votes to pass a legalization bill through the General Assembly, which the Governor would have signed into law. But things fell apart in the Senate, with leadership pulling the bill from the floor just before it went to vote.

Barely 24 hours after making that decision, that state’s senate president, Stephen M. Sweeney, heaved a deep sigh into the telephone when asked how the process had been. “Brutal,” he says. “It was brutal.”

Sweeney had been instrumental not just in drafting the legalization bill, a campaign priority of Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, but in working to corral the votes to move it through the state legislature. He says he spent more time on than any other in his career, only to watch it collapse just inches short of the finish line. He withdrew the bill because he believed it wouldn’t secure the 21 votes it needed to pass his chamber.

“We thought we put a really good bill together,” says Sweeny. “There was a path, we thought, to 21 — I still think there is, that’s why I’m not giving up on it.”