As mayor of Point Pleasant Beach, I am writing in response to Mike Davis’s recent report on marijuana tourism in Colorado, "NJ marijuana legalization: Colorado tourism exploded with legal weed. Is NJ tourism next?"
According to Davis, “leaders of the cannabis industry have long dreamed of making New Jersey the East Coast version of Colorado.” The article goes on to describe a pot den called iBake Denver, where tourists can walk in and get high for as little as $3 a visit.
Tourism is one of New Jersey’s biggest industries, generating $38.7 billion of state gross domestic product in 2017 and accounting for $45.4 billion in economic impact. Known as a family-friendly destination with world-class beaches, do we really want out-of-town tourists coming to New Jersey to get high? Families vacationing at the Jersey shore don’t deserve to smell the scent of weed wafting down the boardwalk when walking with their kids. And we shouldn’t have to worry about out-of-town tourists getting high at a facility like iBake and then driving under the influence of marijuana on our roadways.