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Lilo H. Stainton and Carly Sitrin Expanded access to medical cannabis; easier, more extensive expungements; ending arrests for low-level marijuana crimes: It’s all in a day’s work in Trenton. After a tumultuous day in Trenton, New Jersey lawmakers advanced a trio of marijuana-related legislation that would expand access to medicinal cannabis, make it easier for…

By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com New Jersey residents who want cannabis as an alternative to traditional medicine and the thriving medical marijuana industry eager to serve them stand to gain the most from Wednesday’s announcement that state lawmakers will let voters decide whether to legalize weed in 2020. The decision…

By Matt Arco | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com and Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Hours after Gov. Phil Murphy’s campaign vow to enact a bill legalizing recreational marijuana in New Jersey went up in smoke, the Democratic governor said Wednesday he had a “mixed reaction” and that he was still “trying…

By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com New Jersey’s top state lawmaker announced Wednesday he’s dropping efforts to have the state Legislature pass a bill that would legalize marijuana in New Jersey. Instead, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney said, lawmakers will ask the state’s voters in November 2020 to decide whether to make…

By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Talk has gotten increasingly louder in Trenton lately that New Jersey’s leaders are losing hope they’ll be able to secure enough votes in the state Legislature to legalize marijuana and may have the state’s voters decide at the ballot box instead. But Gov. Phil Murphy said…

By Payton Guion | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Even before Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, skipped a meeting with the governor on Thursday, the prospects of legal weed in New Jersey weren’t looking good. Lawmakers hadn’t been able to wrangle the votes for legalization and told NJ Advance Media they were starting to lose…

By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com and Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com After more than a year of stops and starts, hope is dimming for New Jersey’s leaders to convince enough state lawmakers to vote for a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, NJ Advance Media…

NJ SpotlightCarly Sitrin Some lawmakers say they haven’t been given enough time to study measure that would legalize marijuana in NJ. Here’s a comprehensive analysis of its contents. Adult-use marijuana legalization is likely to be voted on by the entire state Legislature as soon as early next week. But since the bill was finalized Monday…

NJ Spotlight Carly Sitrin Measure could come to floor vote next week, but some pols disturbed over irregularities during hearings, raise concerns about ‘good governing’ After hours of closed-door meetings, vocal opposition from the Republican delegation, and severely limited public testimony, state lawmakers voted the newly amended marijuana bill out of both Senate and Assembly…

by Jan Hefler and Sam Wood Before the year ends, a new cultural landscape could take hold in New Jersey if marijuana is legalized for anyone 21 and over. New dispensaries would spring up around the state — many more than the six that currently exist and that cater only to medical patients. Cannabis would also…