Jersey City sues New Jersey as it looks to bar cops from cannabis use

New Jersey's second-largest city filed a federal legal challenge Monday against the state as it essentially seeks to bar cops from using cannabis.

While state law prohibits employers from penalizing employees based on cannabis usage during their personal time, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop — a 2025 candidate for governor — opposes police officers using it off the clock. The city invoked President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden and the recent firearm charge against him in its lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey.

Fulop has argued that federal law prohibits drug users from using guns (cannabis remains illegal under federal law). And with cannabis detectable weeks after it’s used, a police officer’s credibility could be questioned after lethal force is used and cannabis is detected. That, he said, could open the city to “millions” of dollars in potential liability.

And if he’s governor come 2026, Fulop said, there would be more professions he would look to prohibit from cannabis usage.

“This starts with the police officers, but there should be responsible carve-outs for a lot of professions,” Fulop said in an interview, suggesting school bus drivers and health care workers as potential targets.

The legal challenge itself seeks to allow the city to penalize police officers if they use cannabis and are required to use a gun as part of their job. It also seeks to block the state from forcing Jersey City to reinstate police officers who were fired in connection to cannabis usage.

Jersey City has tried to fire police officers in connection to their cannabis usage, although the state Civil Service Commission decided over the summer that the city must rehire a police officer who tested positive for cannabis usage as well as provide back pay.

Jersey City Public Safety Director James Shea said Tuesday that officers who were penalized for cannabis usage were offered public safety jobs that did not require a firearm, although, he said, they declined the new jobs.

Jersey City’s legal challenge faces one key opponent: The state’s largest police union.

Pat Colligan, president of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, called the legal challenge a “waste of taxpayer dollars” and said his union may become involved.

“Our membership supported [using cannabis] more than I anticipated,” Colligan said in an interview. “I don't think [Jersey City] will have much success [in the lawsuit]. We'll see where it goes.”

Fulop dismissed Colligan’s legal predictions.

“I appreciate Pat Colligan’s legal advice,” Fulop told POLITICO in response to Colligan’s remarks. “I didn’t know he’s a lawyer, but I'm pretty comfortable that we’ll prevail in federal court.”

In social media posts, Fulop noted that Hunter Biden has faced federal charges for purchasing a firearm even when he used drugs. The younger Biden is also mentioned in the city’s legal filings.

“We want to make that abundantly clear that everybody's familiar with how [federal authorities have] used this law before,” Fulop said, when asked about invoking the president's son.

Changes in the state Legislature to carve out police officers from recreational cannabis use are unlikely to pass in the near term. Senate President Nick Scutari — who played a key role in legalizing recreational cannabis in New Jersey — has been opposed to barring certain professions from cannabis usage (Some influential lawmakers like Senate Budget Chair Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) have opposed cannabis use by cops).

The Fulop administration has generally been supportive of cannabis and clashed with the state on cannabis policy in the past. Before New Jersey legalized cannabis, the Fulop administration tried to decriminalize low-level cannabis offenses, which drew backlash from the state Attorney General at the time.

The Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read the legal challenge.