S3320 —

S3320 SJUFISCAL StatementESTIMATE 1/7/21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE   STATEMENTLEGISLATIVE TOFISCAL  ESTIMATE SENATE, No.

 3320 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 219th LEGISLATURE   DATED:

 JANUARYJANUARY 7,14, 2021         SUMMARY The  SenateSynopsis: Judiciary Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No.

3320.Updates and clarifies recent legislation passed by both Houses of the Legislature addressing cannabis legalization, and marijuana and hashish decriminalization.

     Type This bill updates and clarifies recent legislation passed by both Houses of theImpact: Legislature on December 17, 2020 concerning cannabis legalization, and marijuana and hashish decriminalization.

     Annual Section revenue 1 is amended to permit vacating, by operation of law, (1) various existing entries of guilt or placements in a diversionary program for matters without a judgment of conviction or final disposition, and (2)expenditure variousincreases existing convictions, remaining sentences, ongoing supervision, and unpaiddecreases court-orderedfor financialmunicipalities; assistance, as soon as may be practicable but no later than the first day of the fifth month following the effective date of the Second Reprint of Assembly Bill No.

21,Annual titledState theexpenditure “Newincreases; Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act.”  The “as soon as practicable” language added by this bill creates the possibility of earlier resolution of these matters.

     Annual Sectioncounty 2expenditure makesincreases changesAgencies inAffected: the definitions section of the “New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act.”  The definitions of “cannabis item” and “cannabis resin” are amended to reference the definition of “medical cannabis” in section 3 of P.L.2009, c.307 (C.24:6I-3), which applies to the “Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act,” P.L.2009, c.307 (C.24:6I-1 et al.).  The reference is done to clarify that medical cannabis is excluded from these definitions.        Section 3 amends the title of the act which is being amended in section 4, concerning underage possession of marijuana or cannabis items.  The bill provides that any person under the legal age to purchase cannabis items (21 years of age) who knowingly possesses marijuana or any cannabis item, the amount of which is what could be lawfully possessed if the person were of legal age, in any school, public conveyance, public place, or motor vehicle shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $50 nor more than $250;

ifJudiciary; the amount possessed is more than what could be lawfully possessed if the person were of legal age, the civil penalty would be not less than $100 nor more than $500.  The civil penalty would be recovered in a summary proceeding in the name of the municipality pursuant to the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).

 BothDepartment theof municipalLaw court with territorial jurisdiction over an underage possession violation and thePublic SuperiorSafety; Court would have jurisdiction of proceedings for the enforcement of a civil penalty, as well as the requirement, if so ordered by the court, for a person to participate in an alcohol or drug abuse education or treatment program as set forth in the section.  Such education or treatment would not exceed 30 days, as a violation does not involve the possibility of confinement, an additional period which, under current law, would have provided another means to determine the period for the education or treatment.

     Office All of the abovePublic concerningDefender; civil penalties and court proceedings would not apply to a person under the age of 18 years who committed a possession violation.  Such a person would instead be subject to a law enforcement curbside warning or stationhouse adjustment, conducted in accordance with Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive No.

2020-12,Department issued on December 3, 2020 to address a range of policies,Human practices,Services; and procedures to promote juvenile justice reform.  A “curbside warning” is defined in the bill as “a brief, informal interaction between a law enforcement officer and a person under the age of 18 years who the officer observed engage in a violation .

. counties; During the interaction, the officer shall counsel the person to discontinue the conduct, warn the person about the potential consequences of future delinquency, and then conclude the interaction without taking any further action.”  The more involved option for a “stationhouse adjustment” is defined in the bill as “a mechanism that allows law enforcement agencies to resolve a violation .

bymunicipalities. a person under the age of 18 years without formal court proceedings.

A  stationhouse  adjustment,Office whichof shallLegislative beServices memorializedEstimate inAnnual aFiscal signedImpact agreement,  establishes  one  or  moreState conditionsCost thatIncrease the  personIndeterminate shall  meet  inLocal exchangeCost forIncrease the  lawIndeterminate enforcement  agency  decliningLocal toRevenue pursueIncrease a  formalIndeterminate delinquency  complaint  against  the  person.”             ·         SectionThe 4Office is additionally amended to establish an immunity from prosecution for any underage person in need of medicalLegislative assistanceServices due(OLS) toanticipates the consumption of marijuana, and the underage person who called 9-1-1 to get that person assistance, as well as up to two other persons acting in concert with the underagebill personwill whoboth maderaise theand call. lower Thismunicipal immunityrevenues is the same immunity already provided for situations involving the underage consumption of alcohol, and expandedexpenditures toannually. the underage consumption of cannabis items by the recently enacted legislation.

      Annual SectionState 5expenditures ofwill thealso billincrease amendsdue theto titlenew enforcement responsibilities of the actSuperior amendedCourt bywhile sectioncounties 6could toincur includeadditional “marijuana”incarceration inexpenses sectionrelated 1to ofmarijuana P.L.1981, c.197 (C.2C:33-16) concerning possession of certain regulated items on school propertyproperty.  byThe adultsOLS, 21however, yearslacks ofthe ageinformation orto older,quantify includingthe alcohol,magnitude marijuana, or cannabis items.  Such possession of marijuanathese impacts or cannabishow itemsthey wouldmay bevary gradedyear a disorderly persons offense, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to sixyear. months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

       Section  7BILL amendsDESCRIPTION N.J.S.2C:35-2  which      isThis thebill definitionsupdates sectionand forclarifies chapterrecent 35legislation ofconcerning thecannabis criminallegalization code, the “Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987,” to make changes in the definition of “hashish”  and “marijuana”marijuana to reference and excludehashish medicaldecriminalization. cannabis.

      SectionThis 8bill amendseliminates N.J.S.2C:35-5,any concerningfine unlawfulfor distribution,underage andpossession sectionof 9marijuana amendsor N.J.S.2C:35-10,cannabis concerningitems, unlawfuland possession,instead toestablish remove provisions pertaining to civil rightspenalties protectionsof and law enforcement informational reporting.  The bill does not eliminateless thesethan provisions$50 butnor recodifiesmore themthan as$250 twodollars, separate sections to be allocated outside of the criminal penalty sections;  these are sections 15 and 16not inless thisthan bill. $100 Thenor amendmentsmore tothan N.J.S.2C:35-10$500 alsoif cross-reference the new provisions addressing unlawful underage possession andof unlawfulmarijuana adultor possessioncannabis onitems schoolexceeds property as described above, as otherwise the recentlyamount passedof legislation on cannabis legalizationitems andthat marijuanacould andbe hashishlawfully decriminalizationpossessed makeif the actperson were of smalllegal amountage.  possessionThe ofhigher marijuanacivil orpenalty hashishwould noalso longerapply ato punishablethe crime,underage offense,consumption act of delinquency,marijuana or civilhashish. violation of law.

      SectionUnder 10the amendsprovisions section 3 of P.L.2009,this c.307bill,  (C.24:6I-3)for toa deleteperson under the definitionage of “cannabis”18 andyears, include an expandedunderage definitionpossession ofor “medicalconsumption cannabis”violation thatwould isinstead moreresult parallel to the definition of “cannabis” in thea “Newlaw Jerseyenforcement Cannabis“curbside Regulatory,warning” Enforcementor Assistance,more andinvolved Marketplace“stationhouse Modernizationadjustment” Act,” conducted andin thataccordance includeswith clarificationsAttorney thatGeneral cannabisLaw andEnforcement cannabisDirective items,No. marijuana, and hemp and hemp products are excluded from the updated definition.

     2020-12, Section 11 amends section 2 of P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:2I-2) to include medical cannabis within the definition of “drugs” and “hashish,”which clarifyingterms thatare medicalcodified cannabis is excluded from those definitions, and to include a cross-reference to the new definition of “medical cannabis.”       Section 12 provides an exclusionary reference to medical cannabis in the Schedule I definition of “tetrahydrocannabinols.”       Section 13 concerns employer and employee workplace policies and protections, and includes guidance for drug testing by employers using certified Workplace Impairment Recognition Experts.  The bill amendsbased theon section to make a correction indicating that thedirective. State’s Drug Recognition Expert program, which trains police officers to detect, identify, and apprehend drug-impaired motor vehicle operators, is provided by the State Police, not the Police Training Commission as originally stated, and any certified Drug Recognition Expert may be eligible for immediate certification as a Workplace Impairment Recognition Expert.

      SectionThis 14bill amendseliminates sectionreferences 6 of P.L.1984, c.56 (C.52:17B-71) to makethe aterm similar“offense,” correctiveand referencereplaces toit thewith State Police concerning the Drugterm Recognition“violation,” Expertto program,recognize and provides that theunderage Statepossession Policeor willconsumption consultwould withno thelonger Cannabisbe Regulatoryconsidered Commissiona concerningdisorderly thepersons developmentor ofpetty standardsdisorderly andpersons curriculaoffense forsubject certificationto as a Workplacepossible Impairmentterm Recognitionof Expert.imprisonment.

      AsThe previouslybill stated,provides sectionsfor 15persons 18 years of age and 16older, containbut provisionsstill pertainingnot of legal age to possess or consume cannabis items, that the court involved in the collection of the aforementioned possession or consumption civil rightspenalties protectionscould andorder lawparticipation enforcementin informationalan reporting,alcohol whichor aredrug re-codifyingabuse languageeducation fromor N.J.S.2C:35-5treatment andprogram -10.for a period not to exceed 30 days.

      SectionThe 17bill isestablishes thean effectiveimmunity datefrom section. prosecution Thefor billany takesunderage effectperson immediately,in butneed sectionof 13,medical concerningassistance workplacedue policiesto the consumption of marijuana, and protections,the onlyunderage becomesperson operativewho uponcalled adoption9-1-1 ofto theget initialthat rulesperson andassistance, regulationsas bywell as up to two other persons acting in concert with the Cannabisunderage Regulatoryperson Commission,who made the call, which willis coverthe workplacesame issuesimmunity andalready aprovided myriadfor ofsituations otherinvolving aspectsthe underage consumption of alcohol, and expanded to the creationunderage consumption of acannabis legalizeditems cannabisby marketplace.the recently passed legislation being updated and clarified by this bill.

       The  bill,FISCAL asANALYSIS reported,  isEXECUTIVE identicalBRANCH to  Assembly      BillNone No.received.

5211,  asOFFICE amendedOF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES         The OLS anticipates that the bill will both raise and reportedlower bymunicipal revenues and expenditures annually but lacks the Assemblyinformation Appropriationsto Committeequantify today.the magnitude of these impacts or how they may vary year to year.  The bill removes the disorderly persons offense for individuals ages 18-21 violating cannabis and marijuana possession and consumption laws, which will result in fewer cases being adjudicated in municipal courts thereby reducing both court expenses and the revenues municipalities receive from court penalties and fines.  However, the bill implements various civil penalties for these offenses, which will increase municipal revenues.  Municipal courts will try these offenses, and the municipality in which a case is tried receives any penalty or fine that its municipal court imposes on a defendant.  The net impact of these countervailing effects on municipal revenues cannot be known at this time.  For context, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, in 2016, New Jersey police made 32,279 marijuana arrests, including 11,838 with suspects under 21 years old, or about 37 percent of all arrests.

      Under the provisions of the bill, for a person under the age of 18 years, an underage possession or consumption violation would result in a law enforcement “curbside warning” or more involved “stationhouse adjustment” resulting in an increase in expenditures for municipalities due to additional enforcement efforts.  Also under the bill, ‘marijuana” will be a regulated item banned from school property, and the possession of marijuana or cannabis items by adults 21 years of age or older would be graded a disorderly persons offense, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

The OLS estimates that counties are likely to incur an increase in expenditures with more individuals incarcerated in county jails.

 The State will also incur increased costs for the new responsibilities of the Superior Court to enforce fines and oversee drug education orders.

    Section:

Judiciary Analyst:

Anuja Pande Joshi Assistant Research Analyst Approved:

Thomas Koenig Assistant Legislative Budget and Finance Officer     This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

  This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).