A New Jersey appeals court determined that the state's recreational cannabis law is not preempted by federal cannabis laws and that both can coexist. In a May 1 opinion, a three-judge panel affirmed a lower court ruling against a group of Highland Park residents who believe the borough violated federal law by allowing the sale of adult-use cannabis because the substance remains federally illegal.
The appellate panel – which comprised Judges Jack Sabatino, Mark Chase and Robert Vinci – held that the federal Controlled Substances Act does not preempt New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act.
Additionally, the court affirmed a prior ruling that Highland Park's cannabis ordinances are authorized by CREAMMA and therefore are not preempted by the CSA. "It is not impossible for New Jerseyans to comply with the CSA after the enactment of CREAMMA. CREAMMA does not require any person to possess, purchase, or use cannabis. The statute does not require any business to sell cannabis, or any municipality to adopt, as here, an ordinance to allow cannabis dispensaries within its borders. The residents and cannabis businesses of this state act at the risk that their activities might be prosecuted by federal authorities," the panel wrote.
New Jersey's law would also not get in the way if federal officials decided they wanted to pursue cases more aggressively for violating federal cannabis laws and both codes can exist simultaneously, the panel said.
Read more at: www.njbiz.com