Credit: (AP Photo/David Sharp)
File photo: Oct. 9, 2020, Buyers line up to purchase cannabis products in South Portland, Maine. It was the first day of legal marijuana sales for adult recreational use in the state.
In 2017, it seemed that legalizing marijuana for recreational consumption would be Gov. Phil Murphy’s easiest campaign promise to fulfill. After all, the governor and the two top legislative leaders, both Democrats, were on board — as were nearly two-thirds of New Jersey’s citizens. Legal weed would be signed, sealed and delivered in Murphy’s first 100 days in office.
But for a number of reasons, the Legislature couldn’t come up with the votes last year; instead, last month they put it to the voters, who overwhelmingly passed the measure. But legalizing marijuana still requires enabling legislation, and over the past several weeks internecine Democratic quarrels killed two versions of the bill.