New Jersey Holds Final Public Hearing On Legalizing Marijuana
PARAMUS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - People in New Jersey are weighing in on proposed legislation to legalize marijuana.
An assembly oversight committee held a final public hearing Saturday at the Bergen County Community College in Paramus.
In March, Gov. Phil Murphy announced "major reforms" to the state's medical marijuana program - and many think complete legalization would be good for New Jersey.
"The tax money we could bring in to our state that could go to our schools, job creation," said business owner Tara Misusargent. "Keeping it illegal makes it seem so illogical."
"It's also going to produce issues that we're going to have to deal with like driving under the influence, detection, prosecution, education, incarceration," said Joseph Danielsen, chair of the assembly Oversight, Reform, and Federal Relations committee.
Murphy has also proposed allowing an unlimited supply of marijuana for patients on hospice care.
Previously, Murphy proposed expanding the qualifying conditions for medical marijuana use to include anxiety, migraines, Tourette's syndrome, chronic pain related to musculoskeletal disorders and chronic visceral pain.
The patient fee will also be reduced from $200 to $100, with a $20 rate for veterans and seniors. As of Tuesday, there were more than 1,800 residents enrolled in the New Jersey medical marijuana program.
New York State is studying the possibility of legalizing marijuana, even though Gov. Andrew Cuomo has never really favored the idea and called it a "gateway drug."