N.J. lawmakers mull whether to recriminalize some cannabis sales, purchases

Lawmakers mulled Thursday whether New Jersey should ramp up enforcement against unlicensed cannabis sellers by passing a bill that would criminalize the purchase of unlicensed marijuana.

The bill riled cannabis activists who say it would bring back the criminalization of weed that New Jersey’s marijuana legalization law was supposed to end. 

Under the bill, sponsored by Senate President Nick Scutari (D-Union), it would be a third-degree crime to operate an unlicensed marijuana business and a disorderly persons offense to knowingly purchase from one. A person who leads an “illegal marijuana business network” would be charged with a second-degree crime. 

“We have a problem where people are opening up brick-and-mortar stores, small stores, unlicensed to sell these products, and quite frankly, they’re just selling them and this state is doing nothing about it,” Scutari told the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday. “We need to do something more about those brick-and-mortar stores, but we also need to continue to fight back against drug dealers because those are alive and well.” 

Scutari spearheaded legalizing recreational cannabis, first introducing legislation to regulate it for adult use in 2014. After bills languished in the Legislature, recreational cannabis was legalized in 2020 by voters, and Scutari was the primary sponsor of the bill to launch the legal marijuana industry.

Platkin spokesman Michael Symons said his office is “committed to enforcing the state’s cannabis and hemp statutes using all mechanisms allowed by state law.”

“But the challenge presented by unregulated marijuana and hemp sales is pervasive. We look forward to continuing to work with the Legislature to address some of the issues and concerns with clarifying legislation, so that unwanted loopholes are closed and further enforcement efforts are successful,” Symons said.

Cannabis advocates who helped usher in the recreational market criticized Scutari’s bill as a dangerous reversal. One of them, attorney Bill Caruso, told committee members they need to speak to local mayors and law enforcement about the tools they need to fight against unlicensed cannabis sales.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here, and I don’t think we need to go backwards in recriminalizing particularly consumers,” he said.