The Brick Township Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing March 12 on an ordinance to ban the retail sale of recreational marijuana in the township.
The ordinance, introduced Tuesday night with five yes votes and one abstention, was met with some comments in favor of it and some opposed, as expected.
Stephen Reid, the mayor of Point Pleasant Beach, spoke in his role as executive director ofNJ RAMP, a statewide organization that opposes recreational marijuana legalization. Reid praised the council for taking the step to ban retail sale of recreational marijuana in the town.
"I commend all of you for putting your children and residents first," Reid said, adding that more than 70 towns in the state have instituted similar bans on the retail sale of recreational marijuana. Point Pleasant Beach banned both recreational and medicinal marijuana dispensaries in a December 2017 ordinance. A lawsuit filed earlier this month claims Reid's role with NJ RAMP is a conflict with his duties as mayor in connection with the ban.