For the second time this year, top Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey pulled the plug on legislation to legalize cannabis sales for recreational use, killing any likelihood Gov. Phil Murphy will deliver on a key campaign promise before 2021.

Instead, legislative leaders introduced a resolution Monday that would put a recreational use question on the November 2020 ballot. The resolution would need to pass both houses of the state Legislature by three-fifths majorities in one year or by simple majorities in consecutive years to make it onto the ballot.

Arrests related to marijuana increased by around 35% over a four year period ending in 2017, the last year where data is available. This is according to a report released Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

The report is based on FBI crime figures, which show that there was around 38,000 arrests for cannabis possession, distribution or both in 2017, up from about 28,000 in 2013, reports the AP. The publication also found that black peopel are three times as likely to get arrested on marijuana-related charges than white people.

When New Jersey lawmakers debated earlier this year whether to legalize recreational use of marijuana, the Garden State’s police organizations were adamantly against it.

The cops said that legal weed might lead to an explosion in the numbers of impaired drivers operating under the influence. And the police would be caught flatfooted trying to tell whether drivers they pulled over were high or not.

“With alcohol, if you have over 0.08% in your blood, there’s the presumption that you’re intoxicated,” said Christopher Leusner, head of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.

“There hasn’t been a blood test or a breath test that can determine if you’re impaired by marijuana.”

Now there is.

For cannabis enthusiasts living in adult use states, long gone are the days of sneaking around with a dime bag in a coat pocket and worrying about whether the neighbors know you’ve got weed. But the sad truth is that, for millions of Americans living in prohibition or restrictive medical-only states, accessing safe and regulated cannabis is still a problem, writes Danielle Simone Brand. 

The numbers 11 and 33 come up quite often when the topic of marijuana legalization is discussed. Currently, 11 U.S. states allow the legal use of recreational marijuana, while 33 states have legalized medical cannabis. But those numbers could soon change.

Nine states could be on track to hold key votes on some form of marijuana legalization in 2020. Here are the states that could be next on the marijuana map -- and the stocks that could be poised to profit the most.

NJ Cannabis Insider’s Live fall event took place at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison Wednesday. NJ Cannabis Insider is a weekly subscriber-based newsletter produced by NJ Advance Media, which also publishes NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other affiliated papers.

The legal marijuana industry is budding before our eyes. What had once been considered a taboo industry that was swept under the rug by lawmakers has now become a front-and-center issue, as well as a big-time moneymaker for investors and companies involves in the pot industry.

The worsening outbreak of vape-linked illnesses and deaths has spurred lawmakers across the U.S. to take action, with officials in New Jersey and Massachusetts the latest to propose bans and other measures to curb vaping. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders are looking at a phased-in ban on selling vape products and directing health department officials to form a task force dedicated to studying risks associated with vaping and making policy recommendations.

Rohan Marley, son of late legendary reggae singer and cannabis enthusiast Bob Marley, has announced his intention to open a medical cannabis dispensary in Montclair, New Jersey.

In partnership with Colorado-based dispensary chain Lightshade, Rohan Marley has completed an application for one of the state’s 15 retail licences.

If the application gets state’s approval, Marley will aid marketing and publicity efforts and contribute to the hiring process.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has vetoed legislation that would have expedited expungements for people with certain cannabis-related offenses on their record. On Friday, Murphy announced that he had shot down the plan because it did not go far enough, and offered suggestions to lawmakers on how they could craft expungement legislation that was more likely to get past his desk.