At last! N.J. close to legalizing weed as Murphy and top Democrats have a deal.
Updated 1:01 AM; Posted Feb 15, 7:21 PM
By Claude Brodesser-Akner | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, Payton Guion | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com and Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Gov. Phil Murphy and state legislative leaders have reached a deal in principle on how to tax and regulate marijuana in New Jersey after months of negotiations, paving the way to bringing legal weed to the Garden State.
Multiple legislative and industry sources confirmed an agreement was in place on a bill that would tax marijuana by the ounce, rather than the contentious sales tax that had divided Murphy and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Those sources requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the deal.
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, the prime sponsor of the legalization bill, refused to reveal any of the details of the negotiation. But he said they were as close as they had ever been in reaching an agreement.
“We don’t have a final deal," Scutari told NJ Advance Media on Friday night. "There still are more details to be worked out, but the two sticking points (taxes and a commission regulating the industry), we are there. But we are not finalized.”
https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2019/02/at-last-nj-close-to-legalizing-weed-as-murphy-and-top-democrats-have-a-deal.html