New Jersey Marijuana Businesses Push for Home Cultivation Legalization Despite Resistance from Governor and Legislative Leaders
A coalition of over 50 New Jersey marijuana businesses and advocacy groups is urging the state legislature to allow adults to cultivate their own cannabis at home, despite repeated claims from Governor Phil Murphy and legislative leaders that the reform could undermine the legal marketplace.
The New Jersey Home Grow Coalition, formed last year, has signed an open letter to Senate President Nicholas Scutari rejecting the idea that the market needs more time to mature before people can grow their own plants for personal use. The coalition argues that allowing home cultivation would provide patients with access to clean, consistent, and strain-specific medicine, and would not negatively impact the legal industry.
The coalition is specifically pushing for an amendment to a pair of bills that would allow medical cannabis patients to cultivate up to 100 square feet of mature cannabis plant grow canopy area. This, they argue, would allow patients and caregivers to properly pheno-hunt and cultivate an amount that meets individual needs, while also mitigating the potential for exploiting the law through the cultivation of massive cannabis plants.
Despite growing support for home cultivation, Governor Murphy and legislative leaders have continued to resist the idea. Murphy has said he remains open-minded to the idea, but wants to give the licensed industry more time to mature before implementing the change. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin’s office has also tempered expectations about advancing home cultivation legislation in the short-term, stating that the speaker remains supportive of legal cannabis cultivation and sales remaining exclusively with the regulated market.
Advocates are now closely monitoring gubernatorial candidates’ cannabis records ahead of the November election. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has said he would support allowing home cultivation for personal recreational and medical use, while Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has expressed support for allowing home cultivation with common sense guardrails in place. Former Senate President Steve Sweeney has also expressed reservations about home cultivation, stating that it’s a “no” for now until the industry is up and running.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission has announced that applications are now open for licensed marijuana consumption lounges, and has approved a cannabis fee increase to support the state’s social equity program. The commission has also reported that New Jersey marijuana sales have exceeded $1 billion for 2024, and that the state has seen more than $2 billion in cannabis sales since the adult-use market launched in April 2022.
