Momentum Around Marijuana Inspires Hemp Legalization Bill

Trenton Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer County) is behind both the law that made medical marijuana legal in New Jersey and a pending bill to legalize the drug for recreational purposes. On Thursday, yet a third bill he proposed—this one to legalize marijuana's close cousin, hemp—cleared a State Assembly Agriculture Committee.

Reed acknowledged that the hemp bill, which would allow farmers to grow industrial hemp, is piggybacking on the growing momentum around marijuana legalization that is gaining steam in the Garden State.

He said it will allow struggling farmers to be part of an anticipated economic boom if marijuana use becomes legal.

"Clothing and rope and food and oil, shampoos—it's a very versatile crop that would be an economic engine for many New Jersey farmers," said Gusciora, who is the Assembly Majority Leader.

Marijuana legalization is a pet campaign promise of the state's newly-elected Governor Phil Murphy and the issue has taken off, as businesses seek to benefit from the New Jersey market. But residents are still processing what it means for communities, schools and safety. A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released Thursday found that just 42 percent of New Jerseyans support full recreational marijuana legalization.