As Election Day approaches, New Jersey voters are deciding between two major party candidates for governor with diverging views about marijuana—including the Republican gubernatorial hopeful who’s called cannabis a “gateway drug” and voted against a bill to add post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana.
Jack Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman (R), is going up against Mikie Sherrill, a U.S. Rep. (D-NJ), who was formerly convicted of federal crimes and has supported reforms to cannabis legislation at the Congress.
Ciattarelli’s position on cannabis policy
Ciattarelli, a Republican presidential candidate, has stated that home cultivation is acceptable for patients who are on medical cannabis. However, recently resurfaced statements from him reveal a history of opposition to reform.
The governor also stated that, in the event of a failure, the voter-approved law legalizing recreational marijuana use would be reversed. He may even put a ballot measure to do so.
The governor-elect also stated that “the state could have dealt with social injustice through the decriminalization marijuana and not approval of recreational cannabis,” reinforcing his opposition towards the policy.
Ciattarelli voted no in 2016 to include PTSD on the list of conditions that qualify for medical marijuana. This bill passed in the Assembly by a vote 56-13, and then Governor signed it into law. Chris Christie (R).
The GOP candidate stated earlier in the year that, on the controversial topic of New Jersey’s home cultivation rights, he believes medical marijuana patients are entitled to cultivate their own plants. But echoing points from other skeptics—as well as incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy (D), who is term limited and cannot run again—he told the New Jersey Monitor that he worries about the potential economic impact of such a policy change for the marijuana industry.
Ciattarelli stated that “we want to take care not to pull the rug out from under the feet of those who have invested large sums of money, because the Murphy Administration failed to consider the dynamics of this situation.”
NORML gave Ciattarelli a grade of “D” in its voter’s guide.
Sherrill’s position on marijuana policy
Sherrill, during her tenure in Congress in 2019 and in 2021, voted in support of Democratic-led legislation to legalize marijuana federally and promote equity. That legislation—the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act—cleared the House both times, but didn’t advance in the Senate.
Sherrill supported federal marijuana rescheduling before he was elected as a member of Congress in 2018.
As someone who is running for a federal office and has also served as an U.S. Attorney, I’d like to see [marijuana] She said. Because, quite honestly, it means that there is no medical purpose and the substance cannot be studied. But we know it’s not so. “That’s what I want to happen first.”
Moreover, she has consistently supported Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act in order to stop federal regulators from punishing financial institutions for working with licensed cannabis businesses.
She stated this year that her support for “commonsense regulation, safeguards and limitations” in New Jersey’s adult-use legalization, promising to work closely with stakeholders in order to implement a model of regulatory implementation that is “thoughtful, safe and effective.”
The congresswoman proposed an amendment in 2023 to the defense legislation that would expedite waivers for recruits or applicants to the military who have admitted to cannabis usage prior to joining the service. This was done by allowing lower-level employees of the defense to grant such waivers.
Sherrill introduced an amendment in 2011 to the National Defense Authorization Act, (NDAA), to abolish the disparity between federal sentencing for crack cocaine and that of powder cocaine.
One amendment, filed by her for the NDAA 2025, was blocked. This would have allowed for more people to qualify for an expungement of drug convictions that were not violent.
The congresswoman supported amendments in the House of Representatives for 2019 and 2020 to shield all state cannabis programs from federal interference. She voted for legislation in 2022 to expand research on medical cannabis, which was signed by the then President Joe Biden.
In this session, however, the congresswoman submitted a bill which would have required Elon Musk as well as other DOGE employees, who Musk had since left, submit to a drug test to keep their “special employee” status.
Sherrill and other members of Congress, both partisans, have asked that federal agencies include servicemen in the psychedelic research in addition to marijuana.
It is curious that she voted two times against an amendment from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (D-NY), which was aimed at lifting certain restrictions regarding research on Schedule I drugs. This includes cannabis and psychedelics.
Sherrill has received an “A+” in the NORML voter guide.
Side Pocket Images. Photo by Chris Wallis.