Two bills to legalize the cultivation and distribution of hemp, while establishing a hemp grower’s license, have been passed out of New Jersey’s Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee. Assemblymember Anthony Bucco (R-25) was the sole no vote.

“More than 20 industrial hemp-producing countries worldwide each generate millions of dollars in revenue selling everything from fabrics to personal care products made from one of the world’s oldest crops,” said Assemblymember Reed Guscoria (D-15), who sponsored the two bills. “We cannot continue to allow misconceptions about the hemp industry to govern decision-making when an opportunity to create good jobs and expand our economy is on the line.”

Medical marijuana is legal in New Jersey for certain patients with a prescription and a marijuana registration card. But most doctors aren't enrolled in the state's program.

Compassionate Sciences ATC will host an educational event about medical marijuana on Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 2175 Marlton Pike West, Cherry Hill. The conference will feature Dr. Anthony Anzalone and will explain which conditions qualify for medical marijuana, how to obtain a state medical marijuana card, associated costs, state regulations, and available services at the dispensary.

As public acceptance of marijuana use grows in the United States, nationwide arrests for simple possession of pot have dropped in recent years. New Jersey is going in the opposite direction.

Marijuana arrests in the state jumped 10 percent in 2012 and 2013, according to the latest New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Reports.

In fact, the 24,765 arrests made for possessing small amounts of marijuana in 2013 is the highest number in 20 years, and nearly double the amount in 1993, when the state's population was 12 percent less, based on state police statistics and an analysis by the ACLU of New Jersey. In the five years prior to 2013, arrests had hovered around 22,000.

TRENTON - Nearly double the number of people were arrested for marijuana possession in a year in New Jersey compared to 20 years ago, according to the latest figures available.

The change runs counter to the nationwide trend as public acceptance of marijuana use grows in the United States, leading generally to a decline in arrests.

Udi Ofer, executive director of New Jersey’ ACLU chapter, said he’s especially concerned by the numbers because studies show African-Americans are charged with simple possession three times as much as whites despite both groups having the same usage rates for the drug.

ATLANTIC CITY — Two days after lawmakers held the first public hearing discussing the idea of legalizing marijuana in New Jersey, the top four leaders of the state Legislature were split along party lines on how the state should approach the issue. 

The top Democrats — state Senate President Stephen Sweeney and state Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto — said Wednesday during a panel discussion at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference that they are open to examining legalization. But neither would take a stronger stance.

The use of pesticides in cannabis cultivation is a web of unregulated, high-risk confusion. What’s next?

State health inspectors entered New Jersey’s largest marijuana dispensary in August. Tucked away inside a cabinet, they found a sealed container of pesticide.

Unused as it was, the container landed the dispensary in trouble, and highlighted an issue that is creating legal and regulatory waves across the industry, including a first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit in Colorado over the use of chemical substances to improve the quality and yield of the cannabis plant.

Genny Barbour, a New Jersey teen with epilepsy and autism, will return to school full time after winning the fight to have the medical marijuana oil she needs administered to her at school, her mother tells PEOPLE.

"We never thought that it would happen," says Lora Barbour, Genny's mom. "It was Governor Christie who passed this bill. We thought we would have to battle everything through the court system."

Advocates for marijuana legalization urged New Jersey legislators to reverse decades of prohibition Monday, testifying that legalization will bring regulation to an underground industry, boost tax revenue and help end racial disparity within the criminal justice system.

Each of the 10 panelists who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee supported the legalization of marijuana, a policy shift enacted by four states and gaining traction elsewhere across the country.

Committee Chairman Nicholas Scutari is backing a bill that could make New Jersey the fifth state to legalize marijuana, joining Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. But he acknowledged passing such a law will be a long process.

A severely autistic teenager has inspired a major law change requiring school districts to allow minors under medical marijuana care to receive those treatments on school property. The law is a first in the nation.

“We didn’t think it would ever happen,” Lora Barbour, the mother of that teen —16-year-old Genny Barbour of Maple Shade, N.J., pictured above — told CBS Philly this week. “A godsend.”

Ricardo Rivera of Oakland holds a picture of his 8-year-old daughter, Tatyana "Tuffy" Rivera, who suffers from severe epilepsy during a hearing Monday, Nov. 16, 2015, in Trenton.

For the first time in New Jersey history, state lawmakers on Monday debated whether to legalize recreational marijuana and collected hours of testimony from experts who support taxing and regulating the drug like alcohol.

But that’s as much as they plan to do for now.