How badly does New Jersey’s legal cannabis program stink?

Let me count the ways.

Here are a few suggestions how the Governor, the Attorney General, the legislature, regulators, and the cannabis industry can raise the bar RIGHT NOW (but probably won’t.)

Governor Murphy

April 21 marked the one year anniversary of recreational cannabis sales in NJ. The symbolism wasn’t lost on Gov. Phil Murphy who sent a tweet promoting NJ’s progress ending the War on Drugs. He included a cool meme highlighting the number of applications processed by cannabis regulators.

Of course if he really wanted to mark this milestone substantively, NJ Governor Phil Murphy could at any time issue a blanket pardon for those convicted of low-level, non-violent pot crimes.

According to Micah Rasmussen, who leads the Rebovich Institute for NJ Politics, it’s well within Murphy’s power.

“Pardons would be easier than expungements, but both involve all the municipal courts,” Mr. Rasmussen told InsiderNJ “There’s already an online statewide system to pay traffic tickets so obviously we have a handle on paying statewide.”

So it’s that easy?

“The pardon process is whatever Gov. Murphy wants it to be,” Mr. Rasmussen added. “By practice there’s a review by the Governor’s counsel office. But a blanket thing probably wouldn’t need to be complicated if everyone is treated the same.”

That’s why 4/20 was the perfect day to pardon low-level pot crimes en masse.

Right now would be the next best time.

NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin

New Jersey has no provisions for the home cultivation of cannabis for medicinal or recreational purposes. That makes NJ an outlier where one measly pot plant means serious jail time.

And thanks to aggressive lobbying by dispensary owners, there’s not much appetite in the State House to legalize home cultivation, not even for sick people.

But there’s a workaround that could get us halfway there.

NJ’s Attorney General Matthew Platkin could ostensibly decriminalize home cultivation with a memorandum of guidance to New Jersey’s 21 county prosecutors instructing them to lay off those who run afoul of NJ’s punitive anti-home grow laws.

That’s a half measure, a far cry from our legislature carrying out the will of the people. But it’s a heckuva lot better than locking people up for growing weed.

But this idea won’t fly because according to sources in the AG’s office, the front office (aka Murphy) wants to gate-keep any (and all) cannabis-related initiatives such as this one.

What’s up with that?

The New Jersey Legislature

My god what a hapless bunch.

Lawmakers in Trenton have zero appetite to legalize the home cultivation of cannabis. NJ Senate President Nick Scutari deserves 100% of the credit or blame, depending on your perspective.

Lawmakers in Trenton have ZERO appetite for legislation to expunge low-level pot crimes. Too hard.

But at least they can hold hearings right?

The Health Committee could examine if medical cannabis users are getting a fair shot in the recreational era. The Consumer Affairs Committee could examine the marketing practices of the cannabis industry. The Environmental Committee could examine this new industry’s ecological impact and promote better, greener innovation.

But none of this will happen in a legislature that for decades has kicked the can and passed the buck on weed.

Regulators

NJ Cannabis regulators have a thankless job in an industry filled with competing interests rowing in different directions. You’ve got advocates like myself fighting for patients and consumers. You’ve got an industry fighting for…. itself. Then there are pols like Vin Gopal who want to disband NJ’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission altogether.

The NJ CRC also has a messaging problem that makes it hard to drive the debate in a meaningful way. When it really matters, the CRC’s comms team comes off timid or even non-existent.

For example, when regulators went to war with Curaleaf and jerked their license, the CRC’s comms team was MIA.

If Curaleaf’s rejection was a response to their failure to prioritize medical users in the wake of recreational sales, then it’s unacceptable that the CRC didn’t have a press strategy that explained what all the tumult means for medical cannabis users.

There was no such explainer anywhere on CRC’s website or on their socials.

New Jersey taxpayers foot the bill for the extra layer of bureaucracy that is the CRC. We deserve to know what’s going on in a timely manner, for better or worse. We deserve a communications team that’s nimble and serves consumers while driving the debate in novel, clever ways (see @NJGov) and that’s not what we’re getting.

Dispensaries

The great Curaleaf v CRC kerfuffle began because of Curaleaf’s treatment of its workers.

When Curaleaf temporarily lost their license to sell in NJ, their fightback included the very best lobbyists, lawyers, and PR flacks that money buy.

If they can afford all that (while charging $500 for an ounce of mediocre weed)  then surely Curaleaf can pay their workers $20/hour and provide a modicum of job security.

That’s not a lot to ask. Blessedly, NJ cannabis regulators agree and finally started playing hardball to prove it.

Jay Lassiter has been HIV+ for over 31 years and has smoked pot the entire time. Most of that time as a criminal, including today.