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• New Jersey is the eighteenth state to have legalized recreational marijuana
The state of New Jersey will soon allow the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes from April 21 for people aged 21 and older.
Democratic Governor Phil Murphy made the announcement on Thursday, just three days after state regulators gave the go-ahead for permits for seven facilities to begin retailing recreational marijuana. The seven stores already sell medical cannabis.
“This is a historic step in our work to create a new cannabis industry,” Murphy said.
New Jersey is the eighteenth state, along with the District of Columbia, to have legalized recreational marijuana. Till now, thirty-seven states, including New Jersey, have legalized medical marijuana.
Voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot question to permit recreational marijuana for people 21 and older, more than a year ago. The state’s regulatory commission brought the law into force a year after it started operating.
The commission believes that there are about 130,000 medical marijuana patients in the state, with an estimated roughly 800,000 potential recreational consumers, and fewer than 800,000 estimated “tourism” consumers.
Murphy’s fiscal year 2023 budget, which is pending before the Democrat-led Legislature, estimated revenues of $19 million after the new law comes into force. His total budget amounts to $49 billion.
In 2019, as the legalization of recreational marijuana was still just pending before voters, he had estimated about $60 million in revenue.
Inputs from USA Today