Some residents and shoppers in Newark’s downtown had an opportunity to express their views on New Jersey’s position to possibly legalizing marijuana for recreational use in the state.
In March 2019, New Jersey lawmakers were expected to vote on a bill to legalize recreational marijuana, but the vote in the state Senate was delayed because the bill didn't have enough votes to pass according to NJ State officials.
https://youtu.be/QkIQsDiHmMU
Leaders of at least 60 towns opposed the bill by pre-emptively banning marijuana within their city limits sighting there concern about what happens to the kids in the community and their exposure to this 'gateway drug.'
On the contrary, proponents of legalized weed sighted one of their evidence factors on a report by the American Civil Liberties Union also showed black New Jerseyans "three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, despite similar usage rates." Click **[HERE ](https://www.aclu-nj.org/theissues/criminaljustice/unequal-unfair-njs-war-marijuana-users)** for Unequal & Unfair: NJ's War on Marijuana Users'.
Governor Murphy sighted the as a bill "game-changer as it is expected to get the business out of the hands of criminals selling the drug illegally.
"We want to correct this social injustice and regulate it; do it the right thing, Governor Murphy said."