New Jersey to Delay Marijuana Prosecutions in Step Toward Legalization
- Order issued for county prosectors to delay cases for a month
- Senate leader plans to advance bill allowing recreational use
Photographer: Trevor Hagan/Bloomberg
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New Jersey will postpone marijuana prosecutions for 30 days while the state develops guidelines to potentially downgrade or dismiss some offenses, according to a memo from State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.
The , issued to 21 county prosecutors and their municipal counterparts, follows a thwarted effort by Jersey City, the state’s second-most populated municipality, to decriminalize recreational use of the drug. The statewide suspension will take effect even as New Jersey lawmakers have yet to present a legalization bill to Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat who campaigned on joining the growing national movement to end the prohibition on recreational marijuana use.