TRENTON, NJ – We’re not sure what kind of weed Governor Phil Murphy is smoking these days with his alien in the attic, but it must be the good stuff.
If higher weed taxes are your number one concern, maybe New Jersey isn’t the state for you. A new proposal by the governor could have the state’s potheads making calls to their local dealers again, instead of buying from state authorized dispensaries.
Governor Murphy dropped a bombshell in his annual budget address Tuesday, proposing a massive hike in New Jersey’s cannabis social equity excise fee—from $2.50 to $15 per ounce—a staggering 500% increase. The move, aimed at pumping tens of millions of dollars into social service and violence intervention programs, has sparked immediate debate across the state, just two months after the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) raised the tax from $1.24 to $2.50 in December.
“In just five years, cannabis has gone from destroying lives—in the form of excessive criminal sentences—to helping save lives,” Murphy declared during his address, framing the tax increase as a cornerstone of his vision to fund community reinvestment. The special tax, paid by cannabis cultivators, funnels revenue into a dedicated fund for social equity initiatives, supporting communities disproportionately harmed by decades of marijuana prohibition, as well as programs to steer youth away from cannabis use.
The numbers tell a story of ambition. At its current rate of $2.50 per ounce, the tax has already generated over $6 million as of August 2024, according to the CRC—money that remains unspent, awaiting allocation by the Legislature and governor under New Jersey’s cannabis legalization framework. With Murphy’s proposed jump to $15 per ounce, state officials estimate the fund could swell by tens of millions annually, providing a significant boost to social services and violence prevention efforts.
But the plan doesn’t stop there. Murphy also wants to expand the tax to cover intoxicating hemp products, like those containing delta-8 and delta-10—legal substances that mimic the psychoactive effects of THC. The governor’s push to include these products reflects a broader effort to regulate and profit from the booming market for hemp-derived intoxicants, which have largely operated in a legal gray area.
The proposal has already drawn mixed reactions. Supporters argue it’s a smart way to turn a once-taboo industry into a force for good
The timing adds another layer of intrigue. The CRC’s December adjustment to $2.50 per ounce—itself a doubling from $1.24—suggested a gradual approach to scaling the tax. Murphy’s leap to $15 signals a far more aggressive strategy, one that could test the resilience of New Jersey’s fledgling cannabis economy.