Legal weed bill would permit 218 dispensaries in New Jersey

Buying a joint in New Jersey could become as easy as getting a Whopper, as state legislators introduced a bill that would allow more marijuana retailers in the state than there are Burger King locations.

The president of the New Jersey Senate has put his name on a bill that would authorize 218 marijuana dispensaries around the state, including 120 that could sell the drug to anyone at least 21 or older.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, sponsored separate bills to make marijuana legal for all adults and to expand the state's medical program to as many as 98 retail locations from the current six.

They introduced the bills late Thursday after months of public hearings and behind-the-scenes legislative wrangling over the terms of a legal weed market in New Jersey, which could bring more than $1 billion in revenue annually and introduce new challenges for police and prosecutors.

“The legislation to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use would eliminate the draconian laws and penalties currently in place and improve social justice issues in urban areas," Scutari said in a statement. "Law-abiding adults will be able to partake legally and safely knowing exactly what they’re ingesting."

The new legislative push, coming about three weeks before a self-imposed June 30 deadline for passing a legal weed bill, has already encountered opposition from at least one prominent supporter of legal marijuana in New Jersey. Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union state chapter, said in a Twitter post that the bill doesn't go far enough to promote racial justice. A legalization bill should work to erase past marijuana crimes, he said, and allow at least some people with criminal records to run marijuana businesses.

"We still have a chance to get it right, let’s not waste it," Sinha wrote.

In an interview Thursday afternoon, Scutari said his bill would promote participation by minority investors by setting aside 25 percent of marijuana business licenses to residents of socioeconomically disadvantaged "impact zones" that suffered during the drug war.

"This gives us a tool to make (diversity) happen," Scutari said.

The ceiling of 218 marijuana retailers -- 14 more than the number of Burger King locations in New Jersey -- surpassed even the expectations of some legal weed advocates, who had predicted no more than 100 outlets.

The bill would subject marijuana sales to the state's general sales tax, which would increase to 7 percent under Gov. Phil Murphy's proposed budget, as well as a special marijuana tax. The latter tax would start at 10 percent and increase to 25 percent after four years, with the phase-in intended to stamp out illegal businesses by allowing legal ones to operate profitably.

Murphy has championed legalization of marijuana in New Jersey and included a projected $80 million in tax revenue from the drug in his proposed budget for the year beginning July 1. His budget envisions sales beginning next January.

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