NEW JERSEY – New Jersey is set to make its biggest move yet toward legalizing marijuana. And new details on the plan have been released – including how pot could be taxed once it’s available in stores.
A legislative committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, Dec. 12 on a plan to hold a public referendum on marijuana legalization in December 2020.
The bill, ACR840, would call for a vote to amend the State Constitution to legalize marijuana for personal, non-medical use by adults who are 21 years of age or older.
The amendment would provide that all receipts from the retail purchases of marijuana should be subject to the sales tax, but New Jersey towns could add their own tax as well.
The municipal tax rate would not exceed 2 percent of the receipts from each sale, according to the legislation.
The Assembly Oversight, Reform, and Federal Relations Committee will hold the hearing at 10 a.m. in committee room 11 on the fourth floor of the Statehouse Annex in Trenton.
After a last-ditch attempt to get legislative approval, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Sen. Nicholas Scutari, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said recently that they will seek voter approval of a constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use marijuana in New Jersey.
“We introduced legislation to authorize a public referendum for a proposal that will lead to the creation of a system that allows adults to purchase and use marijuana for recreational purposes in a responsible way,” they wrote.