New Jersey’s adult-use marijuana legalization law explicitly precludes employers from taking any adverse actions against workers “simply for testing positive for cannabinoid metabolites, or for using cannabis, so long as it is not used during the workday and the employee is not intoxicated or impaired at work.”
The overwhelming majority of those arrested were charged with low-level marijuana possession — not cultivation, trafficking, or sales.
NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano called the Justice Department’s policy change “inappropriate and misguided. … Most Americans say that consuming cannabis should no longer be a crime; they certainly don’t want federal resources directed toward these misplaced priorities.”
“Marijuana-related prosecutions remain the primary driver of drug war enforcement in those states where cannabis remains criminalized, whereas, with few exceptions, marijuana-related arrests fall precipitously in jurisdictions that legalize and regulate the adult-use cannabis market.”
No one should go to jail simply for the responsible use of marijuana.
“While the total number of marijuana-related arrests have fallen nationwide in recent years, it is clear that marijuana-related prosecutions still remain a primary driver of drug war enforcement in the United States.”
“Considerable time and resources still remain prioritized toward enforcing the failed policy of federal marijuana prohibition and prosecuting those who violate outdated and ineffective federal cannabis laws.”
“Although Congress has failed to amend federal cannabis laws to explicitly recognize state-legal cannabis markets, the attitudes and priorities of federal law enforcement agents and prosecutors have clearly shifted in a manner that reflects their reality. Now it’s time for Congress to do so by repealing the failed policy of federal marijuana prohibition.”