Rumors of the demise of New Jersey marijuana legalization may have been greatly exaggerated.  

Gov. Phil Murphy and Senate President Stephen Sweeney in recent days have said they’d be open to trying to pass a law to legalize weed in the Garden State later this year, during the “lame duck” legislative session after Election Day. 

“I think I’ve been consistent that I hoped we could have one more shot at this,” Murphy told reporters on Thursday. “Getting something to happen sooner, if we have a real shot at that, I’d be all in. … Count me all in to try and work toward that.” 

Last week, Sweeney told NJ Advance Media that he’d “make one more run” at legalizing marijuana through the legislative process. The interview came nearly three months after Sweeney announced that legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes wouldn’t “be realized at this time.”

Instead, Sweeney said he’d likely put marijuana legalization a ballot issue during the 2020 election. Since then, Illinois legislators voted to legalize weed while the drug was decriminalized in New York. 

But the activists who have pushed for marijuana legalization since even before Murphy took office have been slow to jump on board.