Designate patient-only cultivation as the lowest enforcement priority

March 11, 2026

Senator Troy Singleton
New Jersey State Senate
District 7
Trenton, NJ

Dear Senator Singleton,

As a constituent in your district and a long-time supporter of your leadership on equity and patient access, I’m writing to thank you for your years of advocacy in support of home cultivation. Your support has been crucial for patients like me, and I’m grateful for your steadfast commitment.

Today, I write to you regarding a critical step we can take in the interim, as a bill to allow regulated home cultivation for patients remains stalled. As you know, despite cannabis being legal for purchase and recognized as medicine, patients like me still risk arrest for growing our own medicine. I echo the call we made to the Governor and Attorney General to designate patient-only cultivation as the lowest enforcement priority. In a time of New Jersey’s estimated $3 billion budget deficit, this step is both fiscally responsible and compassionate.

New Jersey is also increasingly an outlier among medical cannabis jurisdictions. The overwhelming majority of states with established medical cannabis programs permit some form of patient home cultivation under controlled conditions. Our patients should not be treated more restrictively than those in comparable medical programs across the country.

We therefore propose a narrowly tailored, interim enforcement approach focused on compassion, fiscal responsibility, and patient welfare:

• Limited solely to registered NJMCP patients in good standing;

• Cultivation confined to a secure, enclosed space with restricted access;

• A reasonable canopy limit (for example, 10’ × 10’) to ensure personal medical use only;

• No sales, diversion, or public display permitted.

This approach does not legalize unregulated activity. Rather, it simply prioritizes law-enforcement resources away from seriously ill patients cultivating modest amounts of their own medicine while the Legislature and the CRC continue their work toward statutory clarity and regulatory implementation.

Thank you, Senator, for your steadfast leadership. Your continued dedication to patient access and fiscal responsibility is a model for compassionate governance. As both a constituent and a board member of CMMNJ, I offer my time and assistance in any way that might support your work on this issue. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can be of service.

Sincerely,

Michael Brennan, Board Member,
Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. 
99 E 2nd Street, #B3
Moorestown, NJ 08057
1-856-266-5226
www.cmmnj.org

Senate testimony opposing Recriminalization of Cannabis Possession

RE: Opposition to S4154 – Recriminalization of Cannabis Possession

Date: May 29, 2025

Dear Chair and Members of the Judiciary Committee,

I submit this statement in strong opposition to Senate Bill 4154. As a cancer patient living with chronic pain from spinal trauma, and a board member of CMMNJ, I have seen the consequences of cannabis prohibition up close. This bill would represent a devastating step backward.

1. This Bill Punishes the Poor and the Sick

Legal cannabis remains inaccessible for many in New Jersey. Prices are exorbitant, often over $400 per ounce. Dispensary products are inconsistently labeled, and too often, patients report contamination and poor quality. And yet, patients are still not allowed to grow their own medicine. For those of us relying on cannabis to manage serious health conditions, this bill sends a clear message:

If you can’t afford it—you can go to jail.

2. This Is a Protectionist Bill for Industry, Not Public Safety

S4154 will not make New Jersey safer. It will simply expand criminal penalties for those shut out of the legal market. In doing so, it shields licensed operators from competition while offering no solutions to the real issues: affordability, access, and product safety.

3. This Is a Racial and Economic Justice Issue

Cannabis arrests in New Jersey have historically targeted Black and Brown communities. S4154 revives the exact playbook that devastated those communities for decades. It is an unacceptable regression.

What We Need Instead

• Legal home cultivation for patients

• Regulation that enforces product safety and transparency

• Policies that ensure accessibility and affordability, not criminalization

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As someone who lives with disability and chronic illness, and who relies on cannabis as part of a lifesaving regimen, I am appalled that this Legislature would consider putting arrest and prosecution back on the table for people like me.

I urge you in the strongest possible terms: Reject S4154.

Let’s move forward, not backward.

Let’s protect people, not profits.

Sincerely,

Michael Brennan

Board Member, Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey

Phytotherapeutics Advocate

Email: mdb5683@gmail.com

Phone: +1 (856) 266-5226

Website: www.cmmnj.org

Michael Brennan's testimony "S4154: Establishes crime of selling or purchasing marijuana from unlicensed businesses" at the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on May 29, 2025, begins at the 1:46:00 mark and ends at 1:51:57. See:

https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/archived-media/2024/SJU-meeting-list/media-player?committee=SJU&agendaDate=2025-05-29-10:00:00&agendaType=M&av=A