MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION STALLS IN N.J. ASSEMBLY AFTER LAWMAKERS ADD MAGIC MUSHROOMS TO THE BILL. SENATE MOVES FORWARD. On November 16, 2020, the N.J state Legislature had varied opinions on a bill that would put a stop to the cease of many marijuana-related arrests. The split in the state Legislature saw one chamber move the bill forward while the other one delayed a vote due to a contented provision added late the previous week that would reduce penalties for psychedelic mushrooms. The N.J Assembly called off a vote on the bill after the state Senate included an amendment that would make possession of up to an ounce of “magic” mushroom or psilocybin only a disorderly person’s offense.
“The decriminalization of marijuana debate has always been about the opportunity to address these wrongful policies and begin to reverse the damage done over decades of racial and social justice, not mushrooms,” said Assemblyman Jamel Holley, D-Union. ”It is very irresponsible and poor judgment of the New Jersey Senate to include such an amendment in the last hour. I believe this is a poison pill.”
However, the state Senate passed the amendment 29 to four votes after a debate on it. “How can we decriminalize a psychedelic drug called ‘magic mushrooms,’ when the basis for the decriminalization is the disproportionate impact on Black and brown communities who are arrested for marijuana?” State Sen. Nia Gill, D-Essex, said, citing her concerns with the bill for its inclusion of the magic mushroom. On the other hand, state Senator Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, stressed that the bill does not decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms but regrades the penalties. The legislation requires a first-time offender to face a six-month jail sentence for possessing an ounce of magic mushrooms. Currently, one could get three to five years in prison. “I still have to think about the person who is on the street corner who could get detained,” State Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, who sponsored the bill, said, noting there have been arguments about how much marijuana
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THE POWER IS NOW MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2020
