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The state Legislature split on a bill Monday that would stop many arrests related to marijuana offenses, with one chamber moving it forward and the other delaying a vote due to a controversial provision added late last week that would lessen penalties for psychedelic mushrooms.
The state Assembly canceled a vote on the bill (A1897/S2535) after the state Senate added an amendment that would make possessing up to one ounce of psilocybin, or “magic,” mushrooms only a disorderly persons offense.
“The decriminalization of marijuana debate has always been about the opportunity to address these wrongful policies and begin to reverse the damage done over decades of racial and social justice, not mushrooms," said Assemblyman Jamel Holley, D-Union. "It is very irresponsible and poor judgment of the New Jersey Senate to include such an amendment in the last hour. I believe this is a poison pill.”
But the Senate passed the measure 29 to four votes after debating it on the floor.
State Sen. Nia Gill, D-Essex, said she had issues with the bill for its inclusion of psilocybin, and because she did not believe a portion that addressed expungement of marijuana records went far enough.
“How can we decriminalize a psychedelic drug called ‘magic mushrooms,’ when the basis for the decriminalization is the disproportionate impact on Black and brown communities who are arrested for marijuana?” she said.
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, noted that the bill does not decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms, but regrades the penalties. Under the legislation, a first-time offender could see a six-month jail sentence for possessing one ounce of mushrooms. It can currently carry a prison sentence of three to five years.
State Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, who sponsored the bill, said she did not want to hold the bill any longer, and that language around expungement can be addressed at a later time.
“I still have to think about the person who is on the street corner who could get detained," she said, noting there have been arguments about how much marijuana the Legislature should decriminalize. "And yet, two blocks down, where there will be a legal storefront, that individual could push out pounds of [marijuana] once we determine what the process looks like.”
“We have to be sure that we create concrete pathways that will take someone from the street corner to the storefront," she said.
The Assembly must pass the bill, too, before it heads to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.
In June, the full Assembly passed a bill that would have stopped arrests for possessing up to two ounces of marijuana and instead levied a fine of $50 for those caught with the drug.
Another bill, which would have decriminalized up possession of up to one pound of marijuana, was introduced to the Senate around the same time. But it never moved through the Senate Judiciary Committee, causing frustration among its sponsors.
Instead, the Senate Judiciary Committee chair, Scutari, had said he wanted to hold the bill until after voters considered a referendum to legalize marijuana. It began to move through committees after the Garden State came out overwhelmingly in support of legalizing marijuana via a referendum.
But that mean the bill passed by the Assembly will have to change. The two would meet closer to the middle to decriminalize six ounces.
Lawmakers have moved swiftly following the ballot question’s passage, which did not immediately legalize marijuana. They must still pass a bill that will launch the marijuana industry, outlining its regulations on licenses businesses and products.
And they must pass a separate bill to decriminalize possession of the drug to stop arrests as they await full legalization. For racial justice advocates, this is one of the key parts of reforming marijuana laws: police currently arrest Black people at 3.5 times more often than white people for marijuana offenses, according to the ACLU.
It’s not clear how soon lawmakers can pass legislation to jumpstart the marijuana industry. The sponsor of that bill, Scutari, had hoped to have a bill before both chambers of the Legislature on Monday as well.
But the one he introduced earlier this month did not earmark sales tax revenue from marijuana sales for programs in minority communities disproportionately affected by the drug war. In initial hearings last week, advocates criticized the bill for the oversight, and lawmakers delayed additional hearings scheduled for Thursday.
Scutari has said since he will consider an additional tax on marijuana cultivators and explicitly directing funds to those communities.
A source in Murphy’s administration who requested anonymity said Monday there is an agreement with top legislative leaders and sponsors to add a tax on cultivators. The tax would be broken down into four tiers that would rise as the price of cannabis drops, the source said.
“We are still working on it,” said the source, “but there is agreement” that it will be included in the bill. This was one of Murphy’s most significant concerns with the bill — that it did not raise enough revenue.
The postponed hearings have yet to be rescheduled.
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Amanda Hoover may be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj.
Susan K. Livio contributed to this report. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.