Former NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney of Gloucester County in South Jersey met with the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce in his 2025 campaign for Governor and discussed cannabis policy.
He explained he was generally in favor of cannabis legalization as a means of job creation and boosting the economy.
“When we did the marijuana industry, the goal … was not sales tax. It was income tax,” Sweeney said.
He said that he believed the NJ cannabis industry could foster 42,000 jobs, which would generate income taxes.
“I don’t want to raise taxes on ‘em,” Sweeney said.
“We lost the marijuana war 70 years ago. You have so many with criminal records for, ya know, minor possession. You destroyed people’s lives,” he declared.
“The idea was let’s get this industry to where the product is safe,” Sweeney argued.
He alleged a woman went crazy and killed her son in Camden after consuming synthetic marijuana.
Organic, craft cannabis is the best weed to consume in general.
Anti-Underground Legacy Cannabis
“You don’t know what the product is that you’re buying on the corner,” Sweeney alleged. “You think it’s ok because it’s a guy you’ve known for 10 years.”
“We want people to come into a regulated market that isn’t so expensive. But you have no chance to go to the dark side. We want you to purchase legal,” he noted. “We’re really early on in the industry.”
Sweeney said getting the market to be 80 percent legal purchases and 20 percent underground would be a great success.
Ownership and Money
He also noted the need to address banking rules to help the industry with access to capital or simply money.
“The feds gotta fix that,” Sweeney said.
“We had let hedge funds participate because where were small owners, especially minorities
He also noted that most of the state-legal cannabis companies are White owned.
“We wanted the industry to diversify. We wanted everyone to participate. But if you don’t have banks, where u getting the capital from?” Sweeney noted.
He said funds were allowed to own 46 percent, and owners could be bought out by them.
Steve Sweeney Tried Weed and Didn’t Like It
Sweeney admitted he tried to smoke weed once! But he didn’t like it.
“I tried it one time. It didn’t work for me. I ate a pizza and went to sleep,” he said.
Most politicians don’t admit they smoked weed or tried weed without being prodded.
Governor Phil Murphy and Nick Scutari have both said they are not avid cannabis consumers.
Legal NJ Cannabis Price Issues
Sweeney was against raising the SEEF tax, which is supposed to go to help communities harmed by the Marijuana War, as he called it.
He was never a liberal progressive who could be swayed by the social justice argument led by the ACLU of NJ of the need for the tax revenue raised to go to social justice programs.
“Less taxes sometimes drives more profit,” Sweeney argued.
He joked about the need to grow the industry.
The Other Side Dispensary of owner Dr. Alyza Brevard-Rodriguez Jersey City noted she also did not want to see a tax increase.
“What happened to the first round of the SEEF (Social Equity Excise Fee) fund?” she asked rhetorically.
Brevard-Rodriguez also didn’t like any dollars going to the police.
She agreed with him saying the industry is over-regulated
Brevard-Rodriguez has been very vocal about how she wants to open a legal cannabis consumption lounge and blamed the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) for delays.
She also said large corporations work to avoid taxes that small businesses pay.
“They walk out with an $80 dollar bill. They want to go to the corner,” Brevard-Rodriguez noted.
Sweeney explained he thought the cannabis industry could make money.
“When they first talked about marijuana, the towns said they want 5 percent based on what? It’s not going to cost you 5 percent,” he said. “We wanted them to accept the businesses.”
“This is an industry that does work despite the government interference,” Sweeney added.
He was never in favor of home grow legalization, according to a South Jersey State Senator.
The Political Positions of Steve Sweeney
He noted that he has been an advocate for the disabled community. His daughter has Down syndrome. Sweeney explained he didn’t go to college but rather became an iron worker out of high school, which is common in that field.
He noted the 1992 slogan of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign, “it’s the economy, stupid,” resonates today.
Sweeney added that ironworkers who make an average annual salary of $90,000 a year often complain about how expensive it is to live here before the conversation transitioned to education.
He was the NJ Senate President for 12 years after overthrowing former NJ Governor Dick Codey in 2010 with the help of South Jersey Boss George Norcross III whose allies are generally pro-cannabis. Sweeney spent a lot of time dealing with the anti-cannabis former Governor Chris Christie (R).
He lost re-election in 2021 to Edward Durr, a Republican truck driver.
Why is Legal Jersey Weed so Expensive?
The idea that government red tape is making legal cannabis too expensive is absurd. A small group of large corporations that are Multi-State Operators (MSOs) have been operating an oligopoly or cartel controlling the price of cannabis and dominating the market.
The large MSOs want legal cannabis to be expensive. They don’t seem to care that the savviest consumers complain that their cannabis is mediocre at best. They used their money to hire savvy lawyers and lobbyists to charm people like Sweeney to make as much money as they can. In addition, they are good against getting politicians to parrot rhetoric criticizing their intoxicating hemp smoke shops and underground legacy operator competitors.
While more than 100 dispensaries have opened in the last 14 months, they all carry some MSO products when they opened. A few have made great progress only carrying quality, independent, and craft cannabis brands.
Christie can be blamed for all the problems with legal marijuana in New Jersey since he implemented the medical cannabis legalization bill CUMMA.
NJ Governor’s Race 2025 and Politics
The Governor of New Jersey has a lot of power to shape the local cannabis industry. That includes controlling who sits on the NJCRC.
Sweeney is running to be the Democratic nominee for Governor currently against Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, and Newark Mayor Ras Barka. Both are known to be stronger supporters of cannabis legalization.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11) and Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5) both represent North Jersey and also want to run for Governor.
According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Sherrill and Gottheimer have had good records on cannabis legalization votes while in Congress.
Radio personality Bill Spadea and State Senator Jon Bramnick are the Republicans running to be Governor.
Spadea is running as a Trump MAGA Republican. He said in 2020 he was for legalizing cannabis and homegrow. But he didn’t like the referendum and certainly would not like the NJCRC.
In 2021 both Spadea and Bramnick did not like that cops would penalizing for harassing minors over a small amount of weed.
It remains to be seen what most of the candidates think of home grow legalization.
