Since the beginning of July, the New Jersey Judiciary has expunged more than 362,000 marijuana and hashish cases from court records, potentially making life much easier for many folks seeking employment or housing. But, because the goal is to keep these records out of the public's eye, the only way for one to guarantee that their case has been expunged is through an in-person visit to the court. Adhering to part of the marijuana decriminalization law that took effect over the summer, New Jersey is in the middle of an awareness campaign aimed at informing impacted residents of the change and on educating them about how to receive a certification stating that their case has been cleared.

Predatory practices and local politics may be snuffing out potential players in New Jersey’s recreational marijuana industry.

In Passaic, entrepreneurs can grow, manufacture, package, wholesale and, in the newest incarnation of its marijuana ordinance, even deliver cannabis products. They just can't sell it at retail.  "No municipality in the state can prohibit the delivery to homes," Mayor Hector Lora said. Because New Jersey requires cities to allow cannabis delivery, the City Council introduced an amendment to its ordinance Tuesday to make it clear that home delivery is acceptable. The mayor said the city is dotting the i's to make sure its ordinance, which permits the cultivation, manufacturing and wholesaling of cannabis, follows state law.  It has high hopes that it will be able to land cannabis growers and the jobs that should come with such businesses. 

An applicant hopeful for one of Broomfield’s three lottery-based marijuana licenses filed a lawsuit Monday against the Broomfield city and county clerk and 16 other applicants after Broomfield declined to disqualify the entities which submitted multiple applications.

Centroid Holdings, Inc., which operates as Terrapin Care Station and submitted an application for one of Broomfield’s licenses, filed the lawsuit “to protect the citizens of Broomfield from a handful of entities failing to play by the rules,” Terrapin Communications Director Peter Marcus said.

It’s been almost a year since New Jersey voters passed by a 2-1 margin a “Constitutional Amendment to Legalize Marijuana,” as it was misleadingly labeled.

At a public meeting on Saturday, Princeton Cannabis Task Force Chair and Councilmember Eve Niedergang GS ’85 said the “consensus” reached by the 24-member task force is “overwhelmingly that the benefits of having a dispensary in town outweighed the bad points.”

The meeting, held in Hinds Plaza, drew around 25 residents. Several members of the Cannabis Task Force — a group that includes council members, non-profit leaders, and business and citizen representatives — listened and tried to address locals’ objections to the prospect of allowing marijuana dispensaries to operate in the town.

New Jersey courts have either dismissed or vacated an estimated 362,000 marijuana cases since July 1, according to data provided by the state Judiciary and reported by NJ.com

The actions come just months after the New Jersey Supreme Court issued an order providing for the automatic dismissal and expungement of certain marijuana offenses from people’s records. Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation into law in 2019 facilitating a process for the review and vacation of the criminal records of those previously convicted of low-level marijuana offenses. Governor Murphy signed separate into law this year legislation legalizing adult-use marijuana possession and sales.

New Jersey’s cannabis regulators on Tuesday moved to streamline the licensing of new weed businesses and approved another marijuana grow site — but it did not announce the recipients of some two dozen businesses that have sat in limbo for nearly two years.

Municipalities in New Jersey that opt of allowing legal marijuana sales within their borders don’t just block such businesses. They could keep residents from establishing businesses in the industry at all.

The rules adopted for the recreational adult-use marijuana by the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission have been largely applauded, and a Wednesday online forum hosted by the Stockton University Cannabis & Hemp Research Initiative was on different.

Social justice advocates in New Jersey are flocking together to hold a special, free expungement clinic at Doubletree by Hilton Penn Station Hotel in Newark.

The clinic will be held on Tuesday, September 14 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. Those who attend will get free support on how to expunge low-level cannabis convictions now that cannabis is legal in the state.