Former New Jersey Senate Leader, now running for Governor says it’s “time” for medical marijuana patients to be able to grow cannabis for their personal use. If elected, he will also expand clemency to people affected by the criminalization of marijuana. He is also in favor of creating cannabis lounges.
Steve Sweeney, who was the longest-serving Senate president in the state’s history, said on Monday that he’s heard public calls to legalize medical cannabis home cultivation—and he agrees.
He said, “I’ve been involved in the legalization journey for cannabis over several years. From medical use through to adult-recreational use,” he explained. We even reduced the tax rate on medical cannabis when adult recreational products became available, to make the cost more affordable for patients.
Sweeney stated that “home cultivation has always been a part of the process. It was important to establish first a solid commercial foundation”. After several years of adult-use, the time has come to permit home cultivation by medical patients.
I hear you, New Jersey — and I’ve been involved with this journey for years.
It’s now time for home cultivation by medical patients. pic.twitter.com/W7syCjZna1
— Steve Sweeney (@SteveSweeney_NJ) March 17, 2025
New Jersey, unlike most states which have legalized cannabis for adults as well as medical marijuana patients, continues to ban home cultivation.
Sweeney responded separately to a New Jersey Home Grow Coalition survey, in which he elaborated on his ideas about reforming cannabis policies.
He stated that “it’s my belief it is time for medical cannabis patients registered in New Jersey to be able to cultivate their own medicine at home.” Patients deserve accessible and affordable treatment options. Home grow could be a vital alternative to those who depend on cannabis as a medicine.
As Governor, he would have supported clear and transparent regulation to guarantee a well-regulated and responsible medical cannabis home growing program.
Sweeney, when asked about his position regarding a broader right for home cultivation by recreational consumers to grow their plants themselves, said that he only currently supports the current policy of allowing registered patients to cultivate their own plants.
I believe that home cultivation with strict guidelines for plant limits can balance the patient’s access to a well-regulated market with an appropriate level of regulation. The key is to protect patient health while maintaining a stable and strong regulated marketplace.
Candidate also explained what he will do in his role as governor, including expanding cannabis clemency to those that have been affected under the prohibition.
He promised to “work with legal professionals, community organizations and advocacy groups in order to implement an effective clemency for cannabis offenses that are not violent.”
He added: “We have to make sure that people who are unjustly incarcerated under old laws can clean up their record and start anew.” This is a matter of justice, and New Jersey must address it fully.
Sweeney expressed his support to allow licensed cannabis consumption lounges within the state, which “provide safe and responsible environments for both adult users and medical marijuana patients.”
These spaces will allow social consumption to take place in a safe environment, while also ensuring that public safety regulations are met.
He also stated that he agreed with the former Senate president’s statement, saying people should have the right to consume cannabis responsibly on their own terms without it affecting their job. This is similar to what alcohol does.
He said that “responsible cannabis use by adults” should not lead to workplace discrimination. Just as we don’t penalize alcohol consumption outside the work place, he added. We need protections that are common sense and respect personal freedoms as well as workplace safety.
Chris Goldstein of NORML, who was officially pardoned for a marijuana possession case in 2014 under Biden’s administration, said to MEDCAN24 Tuesday that he “certainly welcomed Steve Sweeney’s support” and his cannabis coalition.
New Jersey’s residents have to deal with some of America’s highest-regulated prices and inconsistent safety standards. “Allowing a couple of personal gardens will not harm the billion-dollar industry,” said he. “I am also happy to see that Democrats running for NJ governor have always supported cannabis personal cultivation.”
The comments of the former senator on home grows differs from that made by current Governor. Phil Murphy, (D), has repeatedly stated that a mature adult-use market is needed before home growing can be authorized.
In a move that seems to contradict this claim, New Jersey’s small marijuana business owners and advocacy groups have recently called for the state legislature to permit adults to grow their own cannabis.
The more than 50 businesses and advocates, which formed a collective known as the New Jersey Home Grow Coalition last year, signed an open letter to Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D), pushing leadership to advance pending legislation to legalize home grow for patients.
In the meantime, cannabis advocates closely monitor gubernatorial contenders’ marijuana records in advance of the November elections.
One of those candidates—Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D)—said recently that “cannabis shouldn’t be treated any differently than other restrictions on indoor or outdoor gardening, so long as it’s not commercial and is not in a public space where minors would have access.”
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, a Democrat, said separately that he would “fully support” the home cultivation of marijuana for recreational or medical purposes with certain common-sense guardrails to help prevent commercial activity and protect quality of living.
That’s despite Fulop’s controversial effort to maintain a policy prohibiting police from using marijuana off-duty, regardless of the state’s legalization law.
There is a growing amount of support, even within the cannabis community itself, for the option to grow marijuana at home under New Jersey’s laws. However, the governor and other key legislators continue to oppose this.
Murphy said in late 2023 that he remains “very much open-minded” about the idea of adding a home grow option to the state’s marijuana law—but he still wants to give the licensed industry more time before opening up home cultivation.
“I am very open-minded about this.” I would bet—if I were a betting man—that down the road that that’s exactly where this would land,” he said. “I can understand why it wasn’t included in the initial regulations, but I don’t think that’s right. The goal is to help this industry get off its feet, and ensure that those who do this for business are successful, and again with an emphasis on equity.”
Murphy has been repeatedly pressed on the state’s lack of a home cultivation option, and he’s maintained his openness to the policy before and after New Jersey’s adult-use cannabis market launched in 2022.
But he didn’t offer a specific sense of how he wanted to see the industry mature before he was willing to take this issue seriously, either administratively or legally.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin’s (D), office, recently tempered expectation about advancing the home cultivation legislation within the next few months, saying, for instance, that the speaker “remains in support of the legal cultivation and sale remaining exclusive to the regulated marketplace where the State has established strict test and packaging requirements which ensure the health of consumers.”
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In New Jersey, the application process for operating a marijuana lounge was officially launched in January. This was nearly a full year after New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s (NJCRC) rules were finalized for lounges.
In December, in addition to releasing application forms for the new license type, NJ-CRC also approved a cannabis fee increase to support the state’s social equity program.
Also that month, regulators announced that New Jersey marijuana sales officially exceeded $1 billion for 2024.
Since the adult-use market launched in April 2022—and the number of licensed dispensaries surpassed 190—the state has seen more than $2 billion in cannabis sales.
Jeff Brown, the executive director of NJ-CRC, had predicted that the state would hit the $1 billion sales mark by the end of 2024 in an interview with MEDCAN24 last year.
The regulators have stressed they won’t let the medical cannabis program of the state fall behind, even while they support the growing recreational market. To that end, the commission eliminated the cost of obtaining a medical cannabis card.
Separately the Governor has proposed an increased special tax on cannabis to generate revenues that will go towards social services and violence prevention programs.
Read Sweeney’s answers to the Cannabis Coalition questionnaire below.
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