The New Jersey Supreme Court recently issued a significant decision in the area of cannabis law. In Hager v MK Construction, the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed that medical cannabis prescriptions are lawful under workers compensation, but that buries the lede. The real impact of Hager is that the New Jersey Supreme Court addressed for the first time the friction between federal and New Jersey state cannabis law.
The employer in this case did not want to reimburse a worker for medical cannabis prescriptions for an injury that occurred on the job. MK Construction argued that the New Jersey Compassionate Use Act (the medical marijuana law in New Jersey) was preempted by the Federal Controlled Substances Act, setting up a showdown between state and federal law.
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In the most significant decision to date in the medical marijuana context, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently confirmed that a plaintiff under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) can state a viable claim for discrimination related to lawful use of medical marijuana. On March 10, 2020, the Supreme Court in Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc. (A-91-18) affirmed the judgment of the New Jersey Appellate Division allowing a plaintiff’s LAD claim based on his allegation that he was terminated for lawful medical marijuana use to proceed to the merits.
New Jersey’s efforts to legalize adult use recreational cannabis officially moved from legislative to electoral. Senator President Stephen Sweeney 
On September 25, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1595, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act. The legislation is intended to allow the cannabis industry to have access to financial services and to enhance public safety by reducing the industry’s reliance on cash. It provides a safe harbor for financial services companies, including banks, credit unions, and insurers, to serve cannabis-related businesses operating under state law without the threat of regulatory backlash or criminal prosecution.