Voters okayed marijuana legalization in November, and now the governor and legislature have made it reality. New Jersey effectively legalized marijuana on Monday, following voters’ approval of marijuana legalization in the November general election. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) on Monday signed multiple marijuana-related bills to legalize use for adults 21 and older, remove penalties for small amounts of the drug, and create a regulated market. Murphy came into office in 2018 after campaigning to legalize marijuana . But the idea faced a rocky path to fruition as the state’s lawmakers debated ...

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Fourteen states and D.C. have now legalized cannabis. New Jersey has officially become the latest state to permit recreational marijuana use. The New Jersey state legislature approved a series of bills Monday that regulates the sale of cannabis to anyone over the age of 21. Gov. Phil Murphy said he signed the bills later in the day. "This legislation will establish an industry that brings equity and economic opportunity to our communities while establishing minimum standards for safe products and allowing law enforcement to focus their resources on real public safety matters,” he said in a ...

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TRENTON, N.J. — Legislation to set up a recreational marijuana marketplace, decriminalize cannabis, and loosen penalties for underage possession of the drug and alcohol was signed into law Monday by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, more than three months after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot question to legalize adult use of the drug. The Democrat-led Assembly and Senate passed the last-minute measure Monday to ease penalties on underage possession of both alcohol and marijuana as a way to secure Murphy’s signature on legislation they had sent him in December. “Our current ...

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has released the full text of amendments to his marijuana legalization plan that he hopes will resolve disagreements with legislative leaders over his original proposal. The main changes would allow cannabis delivery services, specify how social equity grant funding is distributed and lower the proposed penalty for selling marijuana to people under 21, all of which were previewed earlier last week. The governor’s revised proposal also includes "technical changes such as modify the adult-use cannabis retail dispenser definition, require returns to be filed ...

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Earlier today New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a package of bills that create the rules and regulations regarding the state’s legal cannabis industry. The new laws follow last November’s statewide vote Reading and understanding the new rules, which run to hundreds of pages, is tough sledding. The package includes three separate bills. One sets up a new legalization regime, the other two reform the state’s enormous drug control apparatus. They are: AS21/S21 , which sets forth the rules and regulations for the legal industry A1897 A5342 , which further reforms the criminal ...

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NJ just legalized weed — but what does that mean? Here's 6 things you should know TRENTON - More than three months after New Jerseyans voted to legalize weed in the Garden State, it's finally the law. Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed into law three bills that decriminalize and legalize marijuana for "adult use," a term that generally refers to any use of the drug without a medical marijuana card. But this is New Jersey — and that means not everything is clear cut. NJ marijuana: NJ becomes 13th state to legalize marijuana Here's what you need to know, now that marijuana is finally legal ...

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In state legislatures across the country, it’s been a busy week for marijuana reform—with lawmakers in four states approving new legalization bills in committee, plus other cannabis and drug policy developments taking place in additional states. Following the slew of state-level reform victories on Election Day, legislators have increasingly signaled that they view legalization as inevitable and are either hoping to leverage the movement’s momentum or get ahead of activists who are pushing for policy changes via the ballot. This week proved especially active for cannabis and broader ...

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Cannabis isn’t just about smoking anymore; it is incredibly inclusive to people from all walks of life for both medical and recreational purposes. In the past few years, there has been one major central theme debated heavily by society. That is the legalization of cannabis. The once demonized plant stigmatized to cause delusions and murderous tendencies have been finally revisited and approved by government officials. As the health benefits of cannabis become more prominent, more and more stares are starting to legalize it. In fact, legal cannabis has been taking over the market and ...

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Cannabis sales in Michigan approached $1 billion in 2020, state records show. According to data from the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA), combined sales of medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis reached $984.7 million. Adult-use cannabis made up more than 50% of statewide sales, reaching $510.6 million, while medical marijuana sales eclipsed $474 million. Sales peaked in July, when consumers spent $109.5 million on adult-use cannabis and more than $52 million on medical marijuana. In addition to July, monthly consumer spending on cannabis surpassed $100 million four other times ...

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It can be argued that the high taxes are well-intentioned, signaling support for an inclusive cannabis market. Due to ongoing federal prohibition, America’s cannabis regulations remain fragmented by state. Until reform occurs, states will continue to set their program frameworks, including how it taxes the supply chain, with consumers feeling the brunt directly by taxes or indirectly by retailers up-charging to offset costs. Depending on the state, a market’s tax rates could look similar to any other legal product, or the figure could balloon. Examples of the latter can be found in states ...

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