In seeking to bring recreational marijuana to the doorstep of the nation’s biggest city, the bill would wipe away criminal records for hundreds of thousands of people convicted of minor drug offenses, give many in jail the chance to be set free and end parole for many others.
The law also aims to diversify a booming industry dominated by white entrepreneurs in the 11 other states and Washington, D.C. where recreational marijuana has been decriminalized. New Jersey would ensure that minorities, as well as women, have equal access to licenses to sell or cultivate cannabis.
“We have the widest white-nonwhite gap of persons incarcerated in America and far and away the biggest contributor is low-end drug offenses,” Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat, said recently at a news conference where he made his case for legalizing marijuana. “The status quo is unacceptable.”
If the bill passes, it would be a while before recreational marijuana becomes available. The first sales would be at dispensaries that already provide marijuana for medical reasons, which could sell the drug for recreational use as early as six months from the time Murphy signs the bill. A broader commercial market would not be in place until next year.
Though polls showed that most New Jersey residents support legalizing marijuana, Murphy has struggled to win support in the Legislature for what was a centerpiece of his election campaign. It was not until final revisions were made to the bill, especially the beefing up of measures making it easier to expunge criminal records, that the plan gained support from civil liberties and criminal justice activists from New Jersey and beyond.
“I’m impressed that it has a strong criminal justice part in it,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said before the passing of the bill. “My concern had been that legal recreational marijuana has not dealt with the damage that has been disproportionately suffered by blacks and other people of color, and is just setting up people to make a lot of money.”
Murphy, he added, “answered that in an impressive way. It would be a national model that we would bring around the country, including New York.”
Some lawmakers, including most Republicans, remained adamantly opposed to legalizing marijuana, arguing that decriminalizing the drug would damage public health.
“In my heart, and from my experience, I know the detriment it’s going to cause long term in urban communities in particular,” Sen. Ronald L. Rice, a Democrat from Newark, said in an interview earlier this year. “We know the health problems that are going to be created and no one wants to accept that fact.”
An effort to legalize marijuana in New York has been sputtering with black lawmakers saying they will block the implementation of the potential $3 billion statewide industry if the current bill does not ensure that minority entrepreneurs share in the profits.
New Jersey is also taking a more expansive approach than many other states to erasing criminal records of people charged with marijuana-related crimes. Anyone in New Jersey convicted of possessing up to 5 pounds would be eligible to have their convictions erased, a far higher amount than other states with expungement systems.
The state is also seeking to make the expungement process easier by allowing it to be done online, eliminating the requirement to do it in person, which can be time-consuming and expensive.
“No state has leaned into social justice through marijuana legalization as wholeheartedly as New Jersey,” Amol Sinha, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said before the passage of the bill. “This bill sets a baseline for what it looks like to meaningfully acknowledge the human wreckage of the drug war and make good-faith efforts to reverse the damage done.”
Ever since Murphy announced his support for legalizing marijuana as a candidate two years ago, expungement has been central to the debate. Supporters of legalization say stringent drug laws have unfairly targeted minorities: A black resident of the state is three times more likely to be arrested on marijuana-related offenses than a white resident, a recent study found.
New Jersey is also moving to rewrite the vast racial and class disparity in the marijuana industry. White ownership makes up more than 80 percent of cannabis businesses across the country, according to a 2017 study.
In identifying communities that would be granted licenses, lawmakers focused on places like Newark and Atlantic City, with high crime rates, including marijuana arrests, and high unemployment rates. The legislation would also allow anyone with a past marijuana conviction to apply for a license.
The bill would require that a minimum of 10 percent of licenses be given to smaller business, which are defined as those with 10 or fewer employees.
Leaders in struggling cities like Trenton and Paterson are pointing to the potential cannabis industry as a boom.
“Social justice and economic development go hand in hand,” said Mayor Reed Gusciora of Trenton. “I walk in the streets and talk to many constituents that talk about a prior record and how it’s a hindrance for them to get ahead, get a job, which will result in economic development for this city.”
Still, plenty of opposition to legal marijuana exists and dozens of communities have already voted to ban retail and growing operations in their towns. Some communities have also complained that a 3 percent local tax that can be added to retail sales was too low.
The legalization of cannabis would mark a major victory for Murphy, who spent the final days before Monday’s vote in an all-out blitz to pressure lawmakers into supporting the bill.
The campaign has also placed New Jersey at the center of a national conversation among Democratic presidential candidates over legalizing marijuana.
“All too often, communities of color and low-income individuals are unjustly impacted by our broken drug policies, but by including measures to expunge records and reinvest in the communities most impacted, our state has the opportunity to lead in prioritizing social justice,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a presidential candidate who introduced a federal bill that would remove the drug from the list of controlled substances, said before the bill was considered by the Legislature.
With nearly a dozen states having already legalized marijuana, New Jersey pieced together much of its plan from efforts elsewhere, though the state’s program will feature a few wrinkles.
Customers in New Jersey would be able to have marijuana delivered to their door and would be allowed to use cannabis in lounge-like settings that will be similar to cannabis cafes found in California, Colorado and several countries in Europe.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.