What needs to happen before Garden Staters can get legal weed?

Reports last week revealed that several New Jersey state lawmakers planned to introduce marijuana legalization legislation as soon as anti-legalization Gov. Chris Christie’s current term ends. They even travelled to Colorado to see how legalization has worked out there. But, aside from the support of several sanguine lawmakers, what would it actually take for the Garden State to embrace legalized recreational marijuana? NJ.com’s Susan Livio takes a look:

Introduce a new legalization bill that borrows from Colorado’s best ideas and learns from its mistakes.

 

Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) said he is redrafting his earlier bill based on what he learned from his two visits this year and his conversations with business leaders and activists. He said he hasn’t decided how home-grown cannabis should be regulated, and how the mass-produced crop ought to be sold.

 

Enlist more public support.

 

A Rutgers University-Eagleton Institute poll in June 2015 said 58 percent of New Jerseyans favor legalization. That helps, but in order to change the law, community leaders must campaign for it — or at least not work against it. Supporters cite a social justice rationale: black people and Latinos are just as likely as white people to be arrested, but minorities are more likely to get convicted on marijuana offenses. Individual law enforcement officers have expressed both scorn and support for the idea. With Gov. Chris Christie so vehemently opposed, objectors have not needed to make waves. But there is no telling if there will be an organized effort against legalization once its prospects for passage become more real.

 

Recruit support from the top leaders in the legislature.

 

Sweeney is all in. Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) did not go on the trip, and his previous comments suggest he is willing to learn more but is not ready to endorse legalization.

 

Elect a new governor. 

 

Christie could not be any clearer than he already has: He will not legalize marijuana. He will not decriminalize marijuana possession. He is even leery of attempts to expand the medical marijuana program,  calling it “a front for legalization.” He leaves office in January 2018.

 

Hope the President and U.S. Justice Department do not interfere.

 

President Barack Obama did not intervene when Alaska,  Colorado, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia legalized marijuana. It remains a “schedule 1” drug, which means in the eyes of federal law enforcement, marijuana is dangerous, holds no medicinal value and is illegal. There are bills pending in Congress to reschedule marijuana, which would change the entire conversation,  but Obama has not signaled this is a priority before he leaves office.

 

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said she supports states that legalize, and looks favorably upon rescheduling the drug so more research could be done. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, said he, too, agrees states should decide for themselves whether to legalize weed.