Committees in both chambers of the legislature advanced legislation enabling the creation of a legal marijuana market, but the two chambers are still at odds over details, and the Senate cancelled a voting session slated for Monday that included only the marijuana bill on its board list.
Caps on marijuana cultivation facilities are the source of the impasse. State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden), the chamber’s main legalization-backer, wants those caps eliminated, citing dissatisfaction with existing facilities and a low supply of marijuana that could prove a major hurdle to retail sales.
The version of the bill advanced by the Assembly Appropriations Committee earlier Thursday raised the cap to on such facilities to 37, from 28 in an earlier draft.
Gov. Phil Murphy is aligned with the Senate this time, but even so, Scutari said the version the Senate Budget Committee advanced wouldn’t be the one seeing a full floor vote.
“Is this a perfect bill? No, but I think it’s pretty good. I mean, we’ve worked very hard,” Scutari said. “There has been a lot of input all over, for years, and I would imagine, if I could predict, we’ll be back here — after we get this done, hopefully soon — and we’ll be considering changes.
Today’s version probably wouldn’t be the last, the senator said, adding hundreds of requests for amendments came in after the first…
