New Jersey Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Previews Marijuana Policy Priorities If Voters Elect Her Next Week

The Democratic candidate for New Jersey governor previewed her priorities
for marijuana policy if voters elect her next week, stressing the need for
“better regulations” that prevent youth access to THC products, effectively
distribute tax revenue and address the lack of a home grow option.

In an interview with CBS News’s “The Point” that aired on Sunday, U.S. Rep.
Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) said that “everyone in New Jersey wants to see the
laws changed” around cannabis. And while she support legalization—unlike
her Republican opponent, former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R)—the
congresswoman said she sees areas for improvement.

“The legislature feels as if they haven’t really gotten the law right
there. The cannabis companies feel as if the law isn’t right,” Sherrill
said. “So some of the kind of low-hanging fruit is the THC drinks that are
now unregulated and being sold in 7-Elevens, ensuring that young kids don’t
have access to cannabis products, making sure we’re doing better
enforcement—because I’ve heard from some mayors concerns about, in bodegas,
very young kids are getting access to edibles that look like candy, and
their parents don’t realize it’s not.”

“At the same time, addressing some of the home grow provisions, which I’m
supportive of, and then ensuring that we have better regulations around
cannabis, where it can be sold,” she said. “The reason the cannabis
industry wants it is because they want to legitimize their business.”

Asked about her views on the allocation of tax revenue from legal cannabis
sales, Sherrill said that, under the current law, “some of the cannabis
money was really supposed to go into more provisions ensuring that kids
didn’t have access to it,” but “that hasn’t happened.”

“I’d like to see some of it going where the legislation was saying that it
would go to,” she said. “But then, of course, if we can have more revenue
to put into a lot of the programs we want to see statewide, I’d welcome
that.”

For voters who support marijuana reform, the November 4 gubernatorial
election results could meaningfully impact the future of New Jersey’s
cannabis market depending whether Sherrill or the GOP candidate Ciattarelli
wins office.

In Congress before entering the race, Sherrill in 2019 and 2021 also voted
in favor of Democratic-led bills to federally legalize marijuana and
promote social equity. That legislation—the Marijuana Opportunity,
Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act—cleared the House both times, but
didn’t advance in the Senate.

Before being elected to Congress in 2018, Sherrill endorsed federal
rescheduling of marijuana.

Additionally, she’s consistently supported the Secure and Fair Enforcement
(SAFE) Banking Act to prevent federal regulators from penalizing financial
institutions simply for working with state-licensed cannabis businesses.

In 2023, the congresswoman sponsored an amendment to defense legislation to expedite
the waiver process for military recruits and applicants who admit to prior
cannabis use by allowing the lowest-level defense employees to issue such
waivers.

The prior year, Sherrill proposed an amendment to the National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA) to eliminate the federal sentencing disparity
between crack and powder cocaine.

Another amendment she filed for the 2025 NDAA, which was blocked from floor
consideration, would have expanded eligibility for expungements of
non-violent drug convictions by removing an age restriction limiting relief
to those who were under 21 at the time of the offense.

In House floor voters, the congresswoman in 2019 and 2020 backed amendments
to protect all state marijuana programs from federal intervention. In 2022,
she voted in favor of legislation to expand medical cannabis research that
was ultimately signed into law by then-President Joe Biden.

This session, meanwhile, the congresswoman filed a bill that would require
Elon Musk and other workers at the Department of Government Efficiency
(DOGE), which Musk has since left, to submit to drug testing to maintain
their “special government employee” status.

Outside of marijuana, Sherrill joined other bipartisan congressional
lawmakers in 2023 in asking leadership to instruct federal health agencies
to include active duty military service members in psychedelic studies.

Ciattarelli, meanwhile, has expressed support for allowing home cultivation
for medical cannabis patients, but recently resurfaced comments reveal that
he’s historically been hostile to reform, characterizing marijuana as a
“gateway drug” during a 2021 town hall event when he previously ran for
governor.

He also said at the time that, if New Jersey’s voter-approved recreational
legalization law proved to be a “disaster,” he would look into reversing
the policy, possibly by putting a measure on the ballot to roll back the
law.


*— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps,
charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.*


*Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on
Patreon to get access. —*

Meanwhile in New Jersey, as the state’s first marijuana consumption lounges
started opening, regulators have shared information about where to find the
sites and offered tips about how to responsibly use cannabis at the
licensed businesses—including classic stoner cultural customs like “puff,
puff, pass.”

New Jersey officials also recently completed the curriculum of a no-cost
marijuana training academy that’s meant to support entrepreneurs interested
in entering the cannabis industry.

Separately, New Jersey Senate President Nick Scutari (D) filed a bill that
would re-criminalize purchasing marijuana from unlicensed sources—one of
the latest attempts to crack down on the illicit market and steer adults
toward licensed retailers.

In March, a former New Jersey Senate leader unsuccessfully ran for the
Democratic gubernatorial nomination this year said “it is time” to give
medical marijuana patients an option to grow their own cannabis plants for
personal use. He also pledged to expand clemency for people impacted by
marijuana criminalization if elected, and he expressed support for the
establishment of cannabis consumption lounges.

The comments from Steve Sweeney, who was the longest-serving Senate
president in the state’s history, on home grow depart from what current
Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has said on multiple occasions, arguing that the
state’s adult-use marijuana market needs to further mature before home grow
is authorized.

Seemingly contradicting that claim, dozens of New Jersey small marijuana
businesses and advocacy groups recently called on the legislature to allow
adults to cultivate their own cannabis.

*Photo courtesy of Max Pixel.*

The post New Jersey Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Previews Marijuana
Policy Priorities If Voters Elect Her Next Week appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.