NJ: There’s a push to change new N.J. law on underage weed, alcohol penalties. Murphy says he supports it.
By Amanda Hoover | NJ Advance Media For NJ.com
March 8, 2019
Legislators are pushing to change a new law preventing police from notifying juveniles’ parent the first time they are caught with marijuana or alcohol.
And it seems Gov. Phil Murphy is in favor of altering the law he signed just two weeks ago.
“I personally think that’s a step in the right direction, and so we’ll see where that goes,” Murphy said Monday during his press briefing on the coronavirus.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have announced three different efforts to send parents notices when police catch their children with weed and booze.
“It’s got a ways to go, but as a conceptual matter…I support that direction,” Murphy said.
The law signed late last month removed all criminal penalties and fines for such offenses, replacing them with escalating warnings. Under that, the first warning will goes to the juvenile only, the second to a parent and the third as a referral to drug education or treatment programs.
The law came as an end to a two-month-long debate on penalties for underage marijuana use. Two initial bills — one to launch a legal marijuana industry and the other to end arrests for possession — offered conflicting outcomes for those under 21 caught with weed. The first provided criminal penalties, and the second did away with all repercussions.
Murphy said he would not sign either until lawmakers drafted a “cleanup” bill to address the issue and remove criminal penalties.
After several stumbles, the final compromise took further steps to include alcohol and remove parents from receiving notification of a first warning. It passed the Legislature just 20 minutes before Murphy had to sign the legalization and decriminalization bills.
A group of Republican senators has introduced a bill that requires written notification to parents on a first offense.
“Police shouldn’t be prohibited from telling parents that their child was caught engaging in illegal or dangerous activity with drugs or alcohol,” Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement released Monday. “Thankfully, it appears that both Republicans and Democrats in both houses of the Legislature want to fix this outrageous provision of our law. Governor Murphy apparently is supportive of this fix as well. Given that broad support, there’s no reason to delay action on moving this important legislation forward.”
A dozen Republican senators have put their names on it as of Monday morning.
Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, R-Union, was the first to say he would introduce such a bill, coming out just days after Murphy signed the first law.He has not yet introduced the measure in the Legislature.
A group of Democrats in the Senate and Assembly also have planned a new bill, announcing last week they would introduce a measure requiring parental notification on the first violation.
“The importance of parental involvement in every aspect of a child’s development has been well documented,” Sen. Dawn Addiego, D-Burlington, said in a statement. “Removing parents from a moment as pivotal as being caught breaking the law runs contrary to common recommended practice and quite honestly common sense.”