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State authorities are still working out how the Garden State’s legal marijuana market will work.
Meanwhile, the Judiciary has already knocked out less than a quarter of an initial 360,000 Municipal and Superior Court pot and hash cases in the nearly two weeks since weed officially became legal in New Jersey.
These include not just old cases but those involving convicts serving time behind bars or on probation or parole, as well as those that haven't yet reached trial or sentencing, the Judiciary announced Monday night.
Eligible cases include possessing or selling less than an ounce, being stoned or carrying drug paraphernalia.
“Related violations of probation or pretrial monitoring also will be vacated and driver’s license suspensions or revocations for failure to appear will be rescinded,” the Judiciary said in a release.
The vacated and dismissed cases still need to be expunged – that is: wiped clean from the person’s record. That process should take a few more months, the judiciary estimated.
The Judiciary said it’s also “creating an electronic system to allow staff to provide a certification of expungement to members of the public seeking to determine whether their case has been expunged.
“Cases with charges that are not eligible for dismissal under the new law will not be expunged.”
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