If elected governor of New Jersey, Democratic candidate, Elizabeth Warren, outlined her policy goals for marijuana if she is elected by voters next week. She stressed that “better regulations are needed” which would prevent access for youth to THC, distribute tax revenues effectively and provide a solution for the absence of home-grown options.
Mikie Sherrill, U.S. Rep. (D-NJ), said in an interview that was aired Sunday on CBS News “The Point,” that “everyone” wants the cannabis laws to be changed. And while she support legalization—unlike her Republican opponent, former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R)—the congresswoman said she sees areas for improvement.
The legislature has a feeling that they didn’t get the law quite right. Sherrill stated that cannabis companies believe the law to be unjust. “So some of the kind of low-hanging fruit is the THC drinks that are now unregulated and being sold in 7-Elevens, ensuring that young kids don’t have access to cannabis products, making sure we’re doing better enforcement—because I’ve heard from some mayors concerns about, in bodegas, very young kids are getting access to edibles that look like candy, and their parents don’t realize it’s not.”
She added: “At this time, we should also address some home grow provisions which I am in favor of and ensure that there are better regulations surrounding cannabis where it can sold. “The cannabis industry wants this because it’s a way to legitimize its business.”
Sherrill was asked about the distribution of tax revenues from legal cannabis sales. She said, that under current law “some cannabis money really should have gone into more provisions to ensure that kids don’t access it.” But “that hasn’t happened.”
“I want to see that some of the money goes where it was stated in legislation,” said she. But then, ofcourse, if more money can be put towards the many programs that we would like to see implemented statewide, it’s something I welcome.
If you support cannabis reform, then the results of New Jersey’s November 4 governorship election could be a major factor in the future of New Jersey’s cannabis industry. This will depend on whether Sherrill is elected or not and whether Ciattarelli the GOP candidate wins.
Sherrill voted for Democratic bills in Congress in both 2019 and 2021, before she entered the race. These bills sought to legalize federally marijuana 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.
She has also consistently supported the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE), which prevents federal regulators penalizing financial institution for simply working with cannabis businesses licensed by state governments.
In 2023, the congresswoman sponsored an amendment to defense legislation to expedite the waiver process for military recruits and applicants who admit to prior cannabis use by allowing the lowest-level defense employees to issue such waivers.
The prior year, Sherrill proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.
Another amendment she filed for the 2025 NDAA, which was blocked from floor consideration, would have expanded eligibility for expungements of non-violent drug convictions by removing an age restriction limiting relief to those who were under 21 at the time of the offense.
On the House floor, voters in both 2019 and 2021 voted for amendments that would protect state marijuana programs against federal intervention. In 2022, she voted in favor of legislation to expand medical cannabis research that was ultimately signed into law by then-President Joe Biden.
This session, meanwhile, the congresswoman filed a bill that would require Elon Musk and other workers at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk has since left, to submit to drug testing to maintain their “special government employee” status.
Outside of marijuana, Sherrill joined other bipartisan congressional lawmakers in 2023 in asking leadership to instruct federal health agencies to include active duty military service members in psychedelic studies.
Ciattarelli also supports allowing medical marijuana patients to cultivate their own cannabis at home. But recently, comments revealed that Ciattarelli was previously hostile towards reform. In a previous town hall, held in 2021, when he had run for governor, Ciattarelli referred to marijuana as “gateway drugs”.
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.
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Meanwhile in New Jersey, as the state’s first marijuana consumption lounges started opening, regulators have shared information about where to find the sites and offered tips about how to responsibly use cannabis at the licensed businesses—including classic stoner cultural customs like “puff, puff, pass.”
New Jersey officials recently finished the curriculum of an academy for marijuana entrepreneurs that offers free training.
Separately, New Jersey Senate President Nick Scutari (D) filed a bill that would re-criminalize purchasing marijuana from unlicensed sources—one of the latest attempts to crack down on the illicit market and steer adults toward licensed retailers.
In March, a former New Jersey Senate leader unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination this year said “it is time” to give medical marijuana patients an option to grow their own cannabis plants for personal use. If elected, he also promised to extend clemency to people affected by the criminalization of marijuana. He expressed his support for cannabis lounges.
Steve Sweeney’s comments on the home-grow issue, as the former longest serving Senate President in state history, differ from those of the current Governor. Phil Murphy, the Democratic Party’s leader in Connecticut, has repeatedly stated that home-grown marijuana should not be allowed until after the market for adult-use cannabis matures.
Seemingly contradicting that claim, dozens of New Jersey small marijuana businesses and advocacy groups recently called on the legislature to allow adults to cultivate their own cannabis.
Max Pixel provided the photo.
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