Nearly half of New Jerseyans want the state to legalize the use of recreational marijuana—while a slightly smaller number say Trenton should stay away from legalizing cannabis—as lawmakers consider a variety of proposals that would make it easier to use the drug in the Garden State.
According to a new poll by the Stockton Polling Institute of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy, 49 percent of respondents backed legalizing recreational marijuana while 44 percent opposed such a move. Five percent of respondents were unsure.
The survey comes just months after the inauguration of Gov. Phil Murphy, a progressive Democrat who made a campaign promise to legalize recreational marijuana, saying it was the right thing to do from a social justice perspective and that it would generate tax revenue.
But legalization of recreational marijuana has gotten off to a rocky start under Murphy, with factions of lawmakers introducing differing proposals and the legislature failing to unite around a single bill.
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