Three years have passed since New Jersey stopped mass arrests for marijuana. Today, more than 100,000 people have avoided handcuffs over small amounts of weed in the Garden State.

Prior to 2021 police in New Jersey were busting about 100 people a day for simple possession. That was more than for all other substances combined. What’s more, there was a strong racial disparity when it came to who got arrested and who didn’t.

In 2018 State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal issued a memo recommending that marijuana prosecutions be suspended. Despite that, the police still kept up the draconian pace of arrests.

In 2020 New Jerseyans voted to amend the Constitution to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed a number of historic reform laws on Feb. 22, 2021. He also took the extra step of ordering an immediate stop to police interactions over a few grams of marijuana.

Evan Nison is the vice chair of National NORML’s board of directors and was one of the organizers of New Jersey’s 2020 ballot question.

“Gov. Murphy has been a fantastic leader in this regard and deserves to be commended,” he said, while noting that much more work needs to be done.