Marijuana Charges Attorney in New Brunswick, Middlesex County

Reviewed by William A. Proetta, Esq. · Updated October 2026

An adult 21 or older may legally carry up to 1 ounce of cannabis in New Jersey, and holding up to 6 ounces of marijuana (or 17 grams of hashish) is not punishable at all under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a(4)(b). Possession above 6 ounces, or above 17 grams of hashish, is a 4th-degree crime under 2C:35-10a(3)(b), with up to 18 months and a fine up to $25,000; selling without a license is graded under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5 from a written warning for a first sale of 1 ounce or less up to a 1st-degree crime at 25 pounds or 50 plants.

Because anything above those lines is indictable, a Middlesex marijuana complaint goes to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office (MCPO) and, unless it is resolved or sent back to a town court, to the Superior Court in New Brunswick. Our Edison office handles them countywide. Over more than 15 years of trying criminal cases, no corner of the drug code has shifted under my clients’ feet as much as this one.

Legal, Not Punishable, or a Crime

The 2021 laws (P.L.2021, c.16 and c.19) drew three lines:

• Lawful. Up to 1 ounce of usable cannabis, or 5 grams of resin, for a person 21 or older.
• Not punishable. More than 1 ounce up to 6 ounces of marijuana, or up to 17 grams of hashish, is not a crime, an offense, a delinquent act or a civil violation. Police may seize the amount over 1 ounce.
• Criminal. Possession above 6 ounces or 17 grams; unlicensed sales beyond the first-offense warning tier; and home growing.

Marijuana is no longer a Schedule I drug in New Jersey; N.J.S.A. 24:21-5 removed it from the schedules. It is still a “controlled dangerous substance” by definition, which is why the possession and distribution statutes reach unlicensed product through their own marijuana paragraphs. Using cannabis is not punishable, and marijuana paraphernalia is not an offense. Smoking in public is still barred and towns may fine it, but it is not a crime for an adult.

Marijuana and Hashish Grades, Most Serious First

Plant tiers apply regardless of weight. Below 10 plants, a grow is graded by the weight seized, so more than 1 ounce is already 3rd degree. A grow over 5 pounds or 10 plants can also be charged as a production facility under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-4, a 1st-degree crime with a parole bar that only a 2C:35-12 agreement can waive. Separate sales can be aggregated into a higher grade if the indictment says so. Our possession with intent to distribute page explains how prosecutors try to prove a sale was planned.

K2, Spice and Delta-8

Synthetic cannabinoids. K2 and spice are not cannabis under the 2021 laws and are charged under their own sections. Possession under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5.3c is a 4th-degree crime below 1 ounce and 3rd degree at 1 ounce or more. Distribution under 2C:35-5.3b is 3rd degree below 1 ounce and 2nd degree at 1 ounce or more, and that weight includes adulterants. Chemically made cannabinoids are banned even when the same compound occurs naturally in the plant.

Delta-8 and intoxicating hemp. Under P.L.2025, c.215, since April 13, 2026 a product over 0.3 percent total THC, or a finished product with more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, is treated as cannabis, with delta-8, delta-10 and THC-A counted in the total. Selling it without a Cannabis Regulatory Commission license carries the same criminal penalties as selling marijuana, plus civil penalties starting at $100. The law targets sellers; we found no provision punishing a consumer for possession. Giving any product with detectable THC to someone under 21 is unlawful. The statewide guide to what is legal in New Jersey tracks the hemp-beverage dates.

Under 21: Warnings, Not Charges

For a person under 21 found with cannabis in a public place, a car or a school, N.J.S.A. 2C:33-15 provides written warnings, not fines: a warning for the first violation, a warning with information about community services for the second, and a referral for the third. Parents of anyone under 18 are notified from the first violation. Police may not arrest the young person, a minor cannot consent to a search, and the smell of cannabis does not justify a stop. The records are destroyed at the second anniversary or age 21, whichever is first. A minor accused of selling goes to the Family Part; see our Middlesex juvenile defense page.

Odor, Car Stops and Searches

Since February 22, 2021, the odor of cannabis or burnt cannabis does not by itself supply reasonable articulable suspicion of a crime, except on school property or at a correctional facility. In State v. Cohen, 254 N.J. 308 (2023), a general smell of raw marijuana could not justify opening the engine compartment and trunk once the passenger area came up empty, and the Court predicted odor-only searches would be “few and far between.” The statute does not reach searches made before that date.

For adults, an unsealed cannabis item meant for smoking or vaping belongs in the trunk. The 2021 laws added such items to the open-container statute, 39:4-51b, which carries a $200 fine for a first offense. Driving while impaired by cannabis is a DWI under 39:4-50, handled through our Middlesex DWI defense practice. The car-search guide explains what an officer may do once a stop begins.

How Marijuana Cases Move Through Middlesex County

Many bulk-marijuana cases in the county begin on the road: a stop on the Turnpike, the Parkway, Route 1 through Edison and North Brunswick, or Route 9 through Woodbridge, Sayreville and Old Bridge, with sealed bags in a trunk. Others start with a search warrant at a home grow. Larger trafficking investigations belong to the MCPO’s Task Force, which covers drug and gun trafficking.

A complaint-summons, meaning release with a court date, is the default for a 3rd- or 4th-degree charge. A complaint-warrant leads to a short hold at the Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick and a first appearance in the virtual Central Judicial Processing court, which sits daily, Monday through Saturday, at 2:30 p.m. Every indictable complaint is screened by the MCPO at 25 Kirkpatrick Street. Some 4th-degree cases are downgraded and remanded to the town court; the rest go before a grand jury and then to the Criminal Division at 56 Paterson Street.

For a first offender on a 3rd- or 4th-degree charge, Pretrial Intervention is the usual goal. The application goes to the Middlesex Criminal Division no later than the Initial Case Disposition Conference after arraignment; a 1st- or 2nd-degree charge needs the prosecutor’s consent before the application is even considered, plus a guilty plea held inactive. See our Middlesex PTI page. Conditional discharge does not apply, since it covers only disorderly persons drug offenses.

Defenses in a Marijuana Case

• The search. Odor-only probable cause after February 2021 rarely holds up, and an extended stop needs its own justification. A motion to suppress tests it.
• Weight and plant count. The grade turns on the weight seized or the number of plants. We check how the lab weighed the material and how plants were counted.
• Cannabis or hemp. With the 2026 hemp definitions, the State must show the product was over the THC limits, not a compliant hemp item.
• Possession and intent. A bag in a shared apartment or car is not automatically anyone’s, and packaging alone does not prove a planned sale.

Consequences Beyond the Sentence

Each conviction carries a Drug Enforcement and Demand Reduction penalty ($750 for 4th degree, $1,000 for 3rd, $2,000 for 2nd, $3,000 for 1st) and a $50 lab fee per offense. School-zone (2C:35-7) and park or housing zone (2C:35-7.1) counts can still be added to a sale.

Pre-2021 cases involving only small sales, possession, use or related paraphernalia were expunged automatically under 2C:52-6.1. Sales of more than 1 ounce up to 5 pounds, and school- or park-zone convictions, need a petition, which 2C:52-5.1 makes a dedicated, faster process for marijuana and hashish; bigger cases follow the ordinary expungement rules, and our Middlesex expungement page covers it. For immigration, federal law spares only a single possession of 30 grams or less for personal use; a non-citizen facing any sale charge should get immigration advice before a plea.

Call About a Marijuana Charge in Middlesex County

Keep the property receipt and summons, and say nothing about the amount before getting advice. Our Edison office answers (732) 659-9600 around the clock, or you can contact us online.