Following overwhelming support to legalize marijuana on the ballot this year, the Senate Judiciary Committee and Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee heard testimony on the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act. S-21 (Scutari)/A-21 (Quijano) provides the statutory framework for adult-use cannabis legalization. The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) took no official position on the issue, but is monitoring this and related bills closely for future follow up.

The main points of the bill include:

• An expansion in the scope and duties of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, created last year to oversee the state's medical cannabis program
• An outline of the general duties, functions, and powers of the commission, including:

1. regulating the purchase, sale, production, processing, packaging, transportation and delivery of cannabis items
2. granting, refusing, suspending, revoking, cancelling, or otherwise limiting licenses or conditional licenses for the production, processing, warehousing, transportation, sale and delivery of cannabis items
3. investigating and aiding in the prosecution of violations of law relating to cannabis items
4. taking regulatory actions to prohibit advertising of cannabis items in a manner that is appealing to minors, that promotes excessive use, or that promotes illegal activity
5. regulating the use of cannabis items for scientific, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, mechanical, industrial, and other purposes

• Retitling the Office of Minority, Disabled Veterans and Women Medical Cannabis Business Development to remove the reference to "medical" and establishing and administering unified practices and procedures for promoting participation in the lawful operation of personal use cannabis businesses by persons from socially and economically disadvantaged communities, including by prospective and existing minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses and disabled veterans' businesses
• Imposing ethical and conflicts of interest considerations for the commission, its employees and other parties by addressing activities engaged in prior to, during and following service with the commission; and expanding the New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law as well as the scope of the Code of Ethics promulgated by the commission
• Establishing six marketplace classes of licensed businesses ranging from grower to wholesaler to distributor
• The certification of cannabis handlers

Rules and regulations are required to be promulgated within 180 days after the bill is signed into law, or within 45 days of all five members of the commission being appointed. Once adopted, the commission will begin to accept and process applications for licenses and conditional licenses.

In addition to the bill, S-2535 (Ruiz)/A-1897/A-4269 (Wimberly) were considered to decriminalize possession of up to six ounces of cannabis. The legislation also creates a new form of "virtual" expungement for certain marijuana and hashish offenses.