Lawmakers planned to pass a legal weed bill Monday. Here are the disputes that stopped it from happening.

November 23, 2020
AggregatedNews
New Jersey
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After last-minute disputes forced the Assembly and Senate to cancel Monday votes on landmark bills to halt many arrests for marijuana possession and launch a legal weed industry, a key lawmaker says it will probably be at least another week before any agreements are reached.

But Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, who sponsored the legislation that will guide the marijuana industry, said Monday he hasn’t lost hope that the two chambers can come to an agreement quickly.

“I think it was just people taking a break,” he said. “There were enough talks every five seconds for days and days.”

Although voters approved legalizing weed on Election Day, lawmakers need to set the market before anybody can actually buy legal weed, and to stop police from continuing to arrest people for marijuana possession. They want this all done by Jan. 1, when the constitutional amendment takes effect.

But nothing has passed as lawmakers have haggled for weeks now.

Last week, last-minute changes derailed efforts to advance Scutari’s bill (S21) to set rules for a legal marijuana industry a second time.

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations have said the Senate made its changes late Thursday as leverage over the Assembly, attempting to push the lower house to pass the decriminalization bill. [Read More @ NJ.com]

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