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NJ Senate President Nick Scutari (D-22-Union) introduced a bill re-criminalizing marijuana possession and unlicensed underground legacy operators.
The bill S 4154 is called “Establishes crime of selling or purchasing marijuana from unlicensed businesses.”
He is eager to send underground legacy marijuana consumers and operators to jail!
Currently, there are no other sponsors of the bill in the NJ State Senate or a companion bill in the New Jersey Assembly.
However, Scutari might use his authority and power as NJ President to ram it through the legislative process.
“This bill establishes a disorderly persons offense for knowingly purchasing marijuana from a business that is not licensed by the (Cannabis Regulatory) Commission,” it says. “A disorderly persons offense is punishable by a term of imprisonment not to exceed six months, a fine not to exceed $1,000, or both.”
So, Scutari also wants to re-criminalize possession of street marijuana like back in the Bad Old Days.
This could be very difficult because some of the best weed in Jersey is from the underground legacy market.
New Jersey’s legalization movement focused on social justice was able to make possession of up to one ounce decriminalized. So, a police officer cannot arrest anyone with such a small amount now, only give them a warning.
“Any person who is a leader of an illegal marijuana business network is guilty of a
crime of the second degree,” the bill says. “A second-degree crime is punishable by five to 10 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $150,000, or both.”
According to the bill “A person is a leader of an illegal marijuana business network if the person conspires with others as an organizer, supervisor, financier, or manager to engage for profit in a scheme or course of conduct to unlawfully manufacture, distribute, or dispense marijuana in this State …at more than one business location.”
Also, “under the bill, it is a third-degree crime for an owner of a business to manufacture, distribute, or dispense any quantity of marijuana,” it says. “A third-degree crime is punishable by three to five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $15,000, or both.”
Scutari is eager to sic the Dogs of War and unleash the force of New Jersey against underground legacy operators.
“The New Jersey State Police, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General in the Department of Law and Public Safety, may take such necessary steps to close any (unlicensed marijuana) business,” the bill says.
Scutari wants them to “seize any marijuana manufactured, distributed, or dispensed.”
The NJ State Police has not taken the lead in fighting the underground legacy operators. Operators that have been caught were primarily found to have problems with local law enforcement. The local police then got the State Police involved in a few situations it seems.
Scutari always seemed motivated to legalize marijuana to increase the profits of large corporate Multi-State Operators (MSOs). But many in the NJ cannabis legalization movement thought it was more important to stop the arrests of Hispanics and African Americans for marijuana possession, which was happening at a faster rate than Whites.
Many leading players in the New Jersey cannabis legalization movement were noted social justice organizations like the ACLU, the Latino Action Network (which I represented), the NAACP, and Salvation and Social Justice led by the Rev. Charles Boyer, among others. They were primarily motivated by social justice and its advancement to legalize cannabis.
The coalition, along with many others, made great progress after the mass George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 following his death at the hands of a cop on social media.
Following the election of President Donald Trump, a backlash has occurred against social justice progress and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.
So, Scutari seems eager to jump on Trump’s coattails.
This great reversal of social justice led the mainstream Politico NJ to make the story their newsletter’s headline this morning.
Scutari has always disliked underground legacy operators. He has made a number of negative comments about the “black market” over the years, including last week at the hearing to replace the social justice and equity-minded NJCRC Commissioner Charles Barker.
Scutari has been eager to eliminate the black market by making the licensed adult-use cannabis market competitive or law enforcement.
He might share the attitude of some licensed operators, especially MSOs. They see underground legacy operators as their competition, eating into their potential projects.
Significant sections of the cannabis community have disliked Scutari for years. It is due to his passionate opposition to home-grown legalization, which remains a felony. He thinks it would serve as a front or cover for underground legacy operators.
The NJ-CRC and Underground Legacy Operators
The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) has parroted anti-legacy rhetoric Governor Phil Murphy has repeated. But thankfully, the NJ-CRC was not given any troops to lead raiding and busting legacy operators. This bill also does not do that.
They are in a unique position. The NJ-CRC has been vigorously promoting progress made to license Social Equity applicants. They were caught for a marijuana-related crime for two misdemeanors or one felony.
In addition, the NJ-CRC worked with the Business Action Center to create the Cannabis Training Academy to educate such applicants.
“}]] NJ Senate President Nick Scutari introduced a bill re-criminalizing marijuana possession and unlicensed underground legacy operators. Read More
