Publications

It is my privilege to serve as the Executive Director of the New Jersey State Policy Lab. Since its launch in 2021, we have worked to build something meaningful—producing high-quality blogs and reports, sharing them widely on our website and across social media, and holding ourselves to a standard of excellence in everything we do. […]

Some policymakers have suggested that cannabis legalization could provide tax relief by generating new tax revenues; however, new evidence from New Jersey municipalities shows that local cannabis taxes have not meaningfully reduced local property tax burdens. The average property tax bill in New Jersey reached about $10,570 in 2025—the highest in the nation. Given these high […]

As the New Jersey State Policy Lab (NJSPL) reaches its fourth anniversary, it is my honor to serve as the Executive Director, working with an incredible team of dedicated professionals to better understand and investigate policy issues impacting the state. The NJSPL was created as the result of a grant from the Office of the Secretary […]

Research suggests that the younger a person begins using cannabis, the higher the likelihood of them developing a dependence on the drug.

Marijuana was first legalized for medicinal purposes in California in 1996 (Kan et al. 2020). Since then, 37 more states and the District of Columbia have legalized medicinal marijuana. However, the prevalence of marijuana usage and the desire to bring in new forms of revenue led 21 states (including New Jersey) and the District of […]

During the 2020 general election, New Jersey voters approved a ballot question to amend the state constitution to allow residents 21 years or older to possess and consume cannabis products. By the summer of 2021, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) had published a set of cannabis regulations, including the rules for starting and […]

During the Election of 2020, New Jersey citizens voted to legalize the consumption, production, and distribution of cannabis products. While New Jersey municipalities cannot prevent citizens from possessing or consuming cannabis products, they do have the power to regulate and ban cannabis-related businesses in their own jurisdictions. By the fall of 2021, more than 60% […]

Today, we’re releasing our report, Cannabis Legalization: A Baseline Study, as part of a project led by Dean Charles Menifield, one of the Policy Lab’s Co-Principal Investigators. This report explores education, health, and law enforcement outcomes associated with the legalization of marijuana [...]

While the legalization of recreational marijuana will benefit state finances, policy-makers must consider potential negative externalities associated with the sale of legalized marijuana. In a forthcoming report funded by the New Jersey Policy Lab, researchers determined that marijuana usage in New Jersey is very similar to usage across the US. For example, as in the […]

In 2010, the state of New Jersey legalized marijuana for medical purposes with the passage of S. 119 – The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. In November 2018, the New Jersey State Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committees voted to advance legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana. On December 27, 2020, the New Jersey Assembly approved […]