Fulop says JC cops can't smoke weed off-duty

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Apr 20, 2022 View in browser   By Jonathan Custodio With legal cannabis sales in New Jersey just a day away, police officers using the drug off-duty may be able to relax — just not in Jersey City. Mayor Steve Fulop said via Twitter that the city's roughly 1,000 officers will be told that the use of cannabis at any time will be prohibited, reports POLITICO's Matt Friedman. "NJ's policies allowing law enforcement to smoke is an outlier nationally and one that will put our officers + community at risk with impaired judgment," Fulop wrote. "Unlike alcohol where there are tests + timelines that can create clear protection between consumption + duty, w/marijuana that doesn't exist." Several state lawmakers shared similar concerns about accurately judging impairment, noting that marijuana's ability to persist in a user's system long after consumption can muddy up drug testing. Fulop's tweet follows last week's memo to law enforcement from Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin that employers are prohibited from punishing employees who use cannabis and are not under the influence, based on the state's cannabis legalization law passed in 2021. The Jersey City mayor's administration also clashed with then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal on its proposed policy to decriminalize cannabis use in 2018, and Fulop is ready for any court proceedings this time around. "I feel strongly we are right on this issue + we will litigate all day as well via federal court system," he tweeted. HAPPY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON — Hi there, I'm Jonathan Custodio, your Playbook PM author. You can send eastern goldfinch photos to jcustodio@politico.com. We're here with the latest from Trenton and elsewhere as New Jersey moves ahead in the budget process and the Legislature conducts hearings on Gov. Phil Murphy's spending plan. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY FEDERAL FUNDS — Progressive activists called on the state Legislature to tap into the remaining $3 billion in federal Covid relief funds to support vulnerable communities during a virtual event Tuesday, reports New Jersey Monitor's Sophie Nieto-Muñoz. The For the Many NJ coalition organized a "People's Hearing," with speakers criticizing lawmakers for failing to hold public hearings on how to best dole out funds derived from the American Rescue Plan passed last March. Gov. Phil Murphy has until the end of 2024 to decide how the funds should be allocated. COVID NUMBERS — New Jersey reported eight Covid-19 deaths and 1,634 confirmed positive cases on Wednesday. The state's seven-day average is up 8 percent from a week ago and 146 percent from a month ago. ON THE BEATS DOCTORS AGAINST POWER PLANTS — More than 100 doctors, nurses and other health professionals signed a letter opposing plans to build a new gas-fired power plant in Newark. The plant is meant to serve as a backup generator for the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, which dumped more than 800 million gallons of raw sewage into the Passaic River and Newark Bay after the power went out during Hurricane Sandy a decade ago. The letter argues that Murphy's administration is failing to consider how the plant will contribute to already existing air pollution in and around Newark, particularly in the heavily industrialized Ironbound community. "The addition of a gas-fired power plant would increase the pollution and health burdens in this community and should not be permitted," said the letter, released today following a press conference in Newark. The Murphy administration paused the project earlier this year for review following widespread outcry and opposition. But environmental and public health advocates argue the review may be flawed because it is focused on the pollution from the plant itself, rather than how that pollution will combine with existing pollution. — Ry Rivard LIQUOR LICENSING — Murphy wants New Jersey's liquor licensing system to be reformed and less restrictive as businesses are making their way back from the pandemic. Murphy was asked about liquor license reform during WNYC's "Ask Governor Murphy" program on Tuesday night, and he and the process of awarding licenses to restaurants is something "we really want to see reformed." "Other states have done it, and it's a game changer for Main Streets, for downtown [areas], an absolute game changer," Murphy said. "And coming out of this pandemic, with the economic recovery … we want to put as much jet fuel into that recovery as possible. Getting a smart, sensible, responsible liquor license reform in place is going to be a big chunk of that." New Jersey's liquor licensing system is seen as restrictive. The number of liquor licenses that are awarded are based on a municipality's population. There are caps in place limiting the number of licenses — meaning the licenses that are available are pricey, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. — Katherine Landergan, with reporting from Daniel Han Around New Jersey "Legal sales begin, but marijuana convictions linger," by NJ Spotlight News' Colleen O'Dea: "The legal and open sale of recreational cannabis is about to begin in New Jersey, but there are still an unknown number of people unable to get their criminal records cleared of old charges. Provisions in the legalization and decriminalization laws passed last year led the court system to automatically expunge more than 362,000 criminal convictions involving small amounts of marijuana. But anyone with a case that involved other charges who did not benefit from an automatic expungement must go to court to get their record cleared, and individuals and lawyers report there is a backlog of at least several months." "Styrofoam ban in N.J. schools is going to be a hardship when plastic bag ban starts, officials say," by NJ Advance Media's Brianna Kudisch: "… New Jersey's plastic bag ban — which Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law two years ago — is set to go into effect May 4. Seen as the strictest in the nation, the law bans all single-use bags at grocery stores and limits the types of bags non-grocery stores can use. The bill also prohibits most polystyrene foam food service products, or Styrofoam-type products, in dining areas in schools, office buildings, and hospitals. Organizations can apply for a waiver that grants an exemption from the polystyrene foam ban for up to one year. But some food service directors in schools across the state told NJ Advance Media that switching to acceptable substitutes will create a significant economic burden for their districts, amid COVID-related shortages, supply chain issues, rising inflation, and increased fuel costs." Odds and ends — Ralph Izzo will retire as head of PSEG at the end of the year. — That backyard bird feeder may not be a good idea. Two words:Bird flu. — The Roman Catholic diocese of Camden will pay out more than $87 million to some 300 victims of clerical sex abuse.  — A Little Falls resident has compiled a list of New Jersey sites associated with the American Revolution. (There are more than you ever imagined — historians have called New Jerset the "crossroads of the Revolution.") — Cape May taxpayers had an unusual message for local officials: Spend more money.   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  California Playbook PM  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  New York Playbook PM View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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