RE: Opposition to S4154 – Recriminalization of Cannabis Possession
I submit this statement in strong opposition to Senate Bill 4154. As a cancer patient living with chronic pain from spinal trauma, and a board member of CMMNJ, I have seen the consequences of cannabis prohibition up close. This bill would represent a devastating step backward.
Legal cannabis remains inaccessible for many in New Jersey. Prices are exorbitant, often over $400 per ounce. Dispensary products are inconsistently labeled, and too often, patients report contamination and poor quality. And yet, patients are still not allowed to grow their own medicine. For those of us relying on cannabis to manage serious health conditions, this bill sends a clear message:
If you can’t afford it—you can go to jail.
S4154 will not make New Jersey safer. It will simply expand criminal penalties for those shut out of the legal market. In doing so, it shields licensed operators from competition while offering no solutions to the real issues: affordability, access, and product safety.
Cannabis arrests in New Jersey have historically targeted Black and Brown communities. S4154 revives the exact playbook that devastated those communities for decades. It is an unacceptable regression.
What We Need Instead
Legal home cultivation for patients
Regulation that enforces product safety and transparency
Policies that ensure accessibility and affordability, not criminalization
As someone who lives with disability and chronic illness, and who relies on cannabis as part of a lifesaving regimen, I am appalled that this Legislature would consider putting arrest and prosecution back on the table for people like me.
I urge you in the strongest possible terms: Reject S4154.
Let’s move forward, not backward.
Let’s protect people, not profits.
Sincerely,
Michael Brennan
Board Member, Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey
Phytotherapeutics Advocate
Email: mdb5683@gmail.com
Phone: +1 (856) 266-5226
Website: www.cmmnj.org