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Legislators and cannabis experts address the future of adult-use cannabis in New Jersey

In a candid roundtable discussion, legislators and cannabis experts discussed the anticipated next steps regarding adult-use cannabis in New Jersey following the referendum in November and the legislation that passed both houses last month.

Sen. Nicholas Scutari, sponsor of S-21 and longtime advocate of marijuana legalization, was joined by Assemblyman Raj Mukherji; New Jersey Department of Health Assistant Commissioner Jeff Brown; Fruqan Mouzon of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter; and Ruth Rauls of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr to discuss the impact of the legalization of adult-use cannabis on licensing, employment, the medical community, and a number of other issues. The program was a New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education seminar held on Dec. 29.

Among the issues discussed was the need for cleanup legislation and the promulgation of rules and regulations to implement legalization of cannabis. Brown, who was appointed by Governor Phil Murphy to be the executive director of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission when it is empaneled, anticipates rules to be drafted in stages, with licensing regulations to be rolled out first. With regard to a number of open questions, Brown anticipated that a lot of them would be addressed in future regulations.