The impact of legalizing weed in N.J. and other states needs to be studied, N.J. senator says Updated 8:52 AM; Today 8:52 AM U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, shown here speaking at Gov. Phil Murphy's coronavirus briefing in May 2020, has introduced legislation to study the impact of legal marijuana in the states. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Facebook Share As more states allow cannabis use, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez wants to know what impact legal marijuana as on their residents and budgets. Toward that end, Menendez on Thursday introduced bipartisan legislation to require a study of just that for legal medical and recreational marijuana.