New York, .- The intense lobbying of the New Jersey Democratic Governor, Phil Murphy, and representatives of the marijuana industry were not enough to gather the votes needed to approve on Monday a project that would legalize the use of the substance for purposes recreational
Although the Senate and Assembly of New Jersey are dominated by Democrats, Murphy had a political setback by failing to convince the legislators of his own party to support the initiative, which was a key promise of his election campaign.
The vote, which was on the agenda of the two houses for this Monday, was canceled in the Upper House by the leader of that body, Stephen Sweeney, shortly before starting work because he did not have enough support.
“History is rarely made in the first attempt, but eventually the barriers fall for those who are committed to knocking them down,” Murphy told a news conference in which he expressed his disagreement with what happened, accompanied by Sweeney, and the leader of the Assembly, Ceaig Coughlin.
Murphy, who was looking for New Jersey to join ten states and the District of Columbia who have already approved recreational marijuana, also said he did not know when Parliament could take up the issue again.
“Better late than never,” argued the Democrat, saying that he hoped that this would happen before next fall.
He insisted that “it is the right thing” for New Jersey and that “people are on our side”.
As it had already transpired to the local media, the proposal had more options to be approved in the Assembly, but faced greater rejection in the Senate, which this Monday finally resulted in the vote not being held in that chamber, but neither in the Assembly.
Sweeney and Coughlin assured that it will not be the end for the proposal, that it was months on the table of negotiations and that it would legalize the use of the yerba for people over 21 years.
“We had the goal closer than ever, and today it does not mark the end of the process and efforts, I remain committed to promulgating the project,” which serves as a “national model,” the Assembly leader said.
Governor Murphy had dedicated the last few weeks along with other politicians and representatives of the marijuana industry to try to get the votes he needed for the project, which would have established a regulatory body that would be responsible for assigning permits for producers and distributors and for the taxes on the product.
However, the legislation also touches many other areas, and one of the most important is that of the justice system, to eliminate the criminal histories of people convicted of marijuana-related crimes.
The bill also proposed that those who are currently in prison or who have imposed fines may request the lifting of those penalties and that companies and institutions be prohibited from considering marijuana convictions when evaluating candidates.
In New York, Governor and also Democrat Andrew Cuomo, had to take out the proposal to legalize cannabis budget discussion because there has been no consensus on the various areas covered, including the criminal justice for those who They have served prison in relation to marijuana.
Concerns have also been expressed about the effects on health.EFEUSA)
