Weed Legalized In NY & NJ This Year, But There’s One Big Difference
NY & NJ have now legalized marijuana. But while New York’s law allows residents to grow up to six marijuana plants at home, in New Jersey, cultivating 10 plants in your basement could get you 20 years in prison.
A ban on “home grow” is an outlier in the Garden State. Allowing residents to cultivate a limited number of marijuana plants at home for personal use, but not for sale. All fourteen other states that have legalized marijuana allow home grow for medical marijuana patients, while the legislation signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo this week allows all citizens to have up to six plants in their homes.
New Jersey’s prohibition on home growing has been controversial. This is because it means citizens can only use cannabis that they purchased from a licensed dispensary in the state, at whatever prices they set.
Some advocates also point out that the state’s 14 existing medical dispensaries have long struggled to keep up with demand. They say allowing people to grow at home would ease demand.
‘If homegrow is allowed, the number of strains available in dispensaries would increase,’ says Jay Lassiter, a medical marijuana user who writes about the issue in New Jersey.
Read more: “Can I Smoke Weed On The Street?”: What You Need To Know About Legal Marijuana In New York
Other supporters have said a ban on home grow gets in the way of racial justice and equity.
“The cost of regulated cannabis is prohibitive for many folks. It’s an alternative is to allow for people to cultivate their own cannabis for personal use,” said Ami Kachalia, campaign strategist for the ACLU in New Jersey.
“Since wealth in the U.S. is inextricably intertwined with race due to systemic barriers that continue to prevent equitable access to opportunity. That is, Black New Jerseyans have significantly less wealth than their white counterparts. The lack of ability to cultivate cannabis is a racial equity issue. “
Marijuana use and possession have historically led to more arrests for Black Americans than for whites.
Legislative leaders, like State Senate President Steve Sweeney, have said they excluded a home grow provision because it would be hard to enforce a limit on how many plants citizens could cultivate at home.
Legislators also said they were concerned that it would encourage an illegal marijuana market. With homegrown marijuana sold on the street at cheaper, unregulated, and untaxed prices–and undermine the state’s nascent legal market.
Governor Phil Murphy signed the law legalizing cannabis in February. Though there haven’t been any hearings yet, lawmakers are already talking about legalizing marijuana growing at home.
Senator Vin Gopal, a Democrat, has sponsored a bill to let people grow six plants. He pointed to the support the marijuana legalization referendum garnered on the ballot last November.
Heading
“If we truly want to legalize cannabis–which is what the voters of New Jersey did overwhelmingly, [by] 67 percent — then home-grown has to be a part of that. Right now the fact that there’s jail time for home-grown is crazy,” he said. “Hopefully we create an environment where we respect the will of the voters, which is to legalize marijuana.”
With weed being legal in NJ & NY. The race to see which state opens up the first cannabis store is underway.
New Jersey figures to get there first. Almost a month after the law passed, medical operators can now sell to recreational buyers. But there have been delays setting up the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission. Which is in charge of setting up the state’s legal marijuana market by licensing cultivators and retailers.
Last week, Murphy swapped out one of the members after the state chapter of the NAACP threatened a lawsuit because they said that the appointments failed to meet a legal requirement. There wasn’t a Black man on the commission, which was also criticized.
Nearly a week after finalizing the panel’s makeup. Murphy’s office has yet to officially file the commission appointments with the state Secretary of State, a spokeswoman from that office said. And so the Cannabis Regulatory Commission is not yet official, and has not yet met.
Apparently, Murphy’s spokesman, who didn’t mention a reason, will file the appointments next week.
Written by Matt Katz, WNYC on April 2, 2021 12:43 P.M from Gothamist
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