Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
If and when marijuana is legalized in New Jersey, there will be at least one town where it won't be sold.
The Point Pleasant Beach borough council has unanimously approved a full ban on marijuana sales, including both medical marijuana dispensaries and any retail business looking to sell weed.
In an interview, Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Stephen Reid said he was not against medical marijuana – and not all borough officials are against recreational marijuana.
But the council, he said, simply does not want it sold in town. The vote was last week.
"I believe legalized marijuana is coming and we just don't want to see any dispensaries," Reid said. "We have an amazing family-friendly town – a tourism town. People come here with their families. They've been doing it for years and we want to continue that."
The ordinance only covers businesses that will sell marijuana or paraphernalia. When it comes to marijuana-specific bars or clubs, Reid said the borough will "deal with that when (they) get there."
Marijuana legalization advocates and entrepreneurs have spent the last six weeks preparing for the eventual legalization of marijuana in the Garden State, thanks to the election of Phil Murphy as the state's next governor.
Murphy, a Middletown resident, made marijuana legalization a part of his campaign platform, citing social justice concerns – namely, a racial divide when it comes to marijuana arrests and prison sentences.
According to various studies, blacks and whites use marijuana at about the same rates, but blacks are significantly likelier to be arrested for it.
Legalization proponents have said the drug would mean a windfall for New Jersey. The chief plan under consideration would tax marijuana up to 25 percent, estimating $300 million in tax revenue and another $100 million in law enforcement savings.
Under that plan, towns that ban marijuana sales wouldn't see a dime of pot revenue. And Reid is fine with that: "Money doesn't play a role in this. It should never play a role, even at the state level. We're not even thinking about that," he said.
The ban has angered some Shore marijuana advocates, including Eric Karsh, a Point Pleasant resident who uses medical marijuana to assuage chronic epilepsy.
"You can get alcohol on one corner and a pharmacy where you can get opioids across the street," Karsh said. "They are under the guise that they have this quaint little family town, yet you have Martell's Tiki Bar and Jenkinson's, where there's more drunk fights than you've ever seen."
"It just doesn't make any sense. They contradict themselves," he said.
The borough is also home to tobacco and electronic vapor shops.
According to Reid, the difference between marijuana and alcohol is decades of enforcement and regulation. As a result, people who consume alcohol are familiar with the laws that govern alcohol – such as drinking in public – and the dangers that come with it, such as drunk driving.
"Alcohol has been legal. It's been regulated. Just like anything in life, if you overindulge in something, you're going to get in trouble," he said.
Other towns in New Jersey have considered outlawing marijuana dispensaries, including Seaside Heights and Lavallette.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NJ marijuana legalization: Point Pleasant Beach bans medical, recreational weed sales
Author: Mike Davis
Contact: Customer Service Contacts | Asbury Park Press
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: Asbury Park Press NJ | Jersey Shore & New Jersey News
The Point Pleasant Beach borough council has unanimously approved a full ban on marijuana sales, including both medical marijuana dispensaries and any retail business looking to sell weed.
In an interview, Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Stephen Reid said he was not against medical marijuana – and not all borough officials are against recreational marijuana.
But the council, he said, simply does not want it sold in town. The vote was last week.
"I believe legalized marijuana is coming and we just don't want to see any dispensaries," Reid said. "We have an amazing family-friendly town – a tourism town. People come here with their families. They've been doing it for years and we want to continue that."
The ordinance only covers businesses that will sell marijuana or paraphernalia. When it comes to marijuana-specific bars or clubs, Reid said the borough will "deal with that when (they) get there."
Marijuana legalization advocates and entrepreneurs have spent the last six weeks preparing for the eventual legalization of marijuana in the Garden State, thanks to the election of Phil Murphy as the state's next governor.
Murphy, a Middletown resident, made marijuana legalization a part of his campaign platform, citing social justice concerns – namely, a racial divide when it comes to marijuana arrests and prison sentences.
According to various studies, blacks and whites use marijuana at about the same rates, but blacks are significantly likelier to be arrested for it.
Legalization proponents have said the drug would mean a windfall for New Jersey. The chief plan under consideration would tax marijuana up to 25 percent, estimating $300 million in tax revenue and another $100 million in law enforcement savings.
Under that plan, towns that ban marijuana sales wouldn't see a dime of pot revenue. And Reid is fine with that: "Money doesn't play a role in this. It should never play a role, even at the state level. We're not even thinking about that," he said.
The ban has angered some Shore marijuana advocates, including Eric Karsh, a Point Pleasant resident who uses medical marijuana to assuage chronic epilepsy.
"You can get alcohol on one corner and a pharmacy where you can get opioids across the street," Karsh said. "They are under the guise that they have this quaint little family town, yet you have Martell's Tiki Bar and Jenkinson's, where there's more drunk fights than you've ever seen."
"It just doesn't make any sense. They contradict themselves," he said.
The borough is also home to tobacco and electronic vapor shops.
According to Reid, the difference between marijuana and alcohol is decades of enforcement and regulation. As a result, people who consume alcohol are familiar with the laws that govern alcohol – such as drinking in public – and the dangers that come with it, such as drunk driving.
"Alcohol has been legal. It's been regulated. Just like anything in life, if you overindulge in something, you're going to get in trouble," he said.
Other towns in New Jersey have considered outlawing marijuana dispensaries, including Seaside Heights and Lavallette.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NJ marijuana legalization: Point Pleasant Beach bans medical, recreational weed sales
Author: Mike Davis
Contact: Customer Service Contacts | Asbury Park Press
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: Asbury Park Press NJ | Jersey Shore & New Jersey News
