The guy in the purple bong suit brought along a guitar and entertained – if that’s the right term – the council with song.
Then there was a masked man in a wheelchair.
That was Edward “Lefty” Grimes, the CEO of Sativa Cross, a non-profit that advocates for cannabis patients. And just for the record, the guitarist gave his name as Bongholeo.
Legalized marijuana continues to be eventful for local governing bodies.
Mary Oakes, an Oceanport resident who came to Madison to tell the story of her husband, a medical cannabis user, echoed that sentiment. Oakes claims that her husband was diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2016.
"He was given two months to live. My husband lived four years and ten months because of the use of medical cannabis. It kept him off of every kind of opioid they wanted to shove down him to keep him pain free," Oakes said.
One New Jersey town is looking to go a step further. In Madison, a small town in Morris County which voted two-thirds in favor of legalizing marijuana, the town council is on the cusp of rejecting a medical dispensary for the town. The council overwhelmingly approved an ordinance allowing medical marijuana sales, but is now trying to repeal that ordinance and pass new ones ensuring no other cannabis dispensary can open.
During Monday nights council meeting, the council introduced three ordinances regarding cannabis.
One month after rejecting a medical marijuana dispensary's application to open on Main Street, the Borough Council is rescinding its laws allowing the dispensaries altogether.
The council voted unanimously Monday to introduce three ordinances undoing the actions it took last May to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to open in the town's Community Commercial zones and gateway zone at the east end of Main Street.
Marijuana may be legal in New Jersey, but its stigma remains.
To many – far more than simple logic would suggest – pot smoking is the province of degenerates and all-around lowlifes.
This truth runs counter to polls that say about half of all Americans have used the drug at least once, not to mention some hard facts – namely that voters strongly supported legalizing recreational marijuana in 2020.
But apparently, polls are polls and elections are elections.
Allowing comments from several borough residents opposing the introduction of the cannabis dispensary, the Madison Borough Council has decided to postpone their vote on the proposed business.
On Nov. 28, the council heard from the team at 1st Choice Health + Wellness, a licensed dispensary looking to open a location in Madison.
According to Nicholas Dasaro, COO of 1st Choice Health + Wellness, the company is interested in Madison because of its central location in northern New Jersey.
Well over a dozen residents took their turn at the podium, both during questioning and the open portion. Concerns included property zoning, parking lot location (directly abutting several homes in the Niles neighborhood), how it would allow Madison teenagers and young adults easy access, and how the business intends on monitoring security, but the primary worry was what was in it for Madison.
The Borough Council tabled a resolution to approve a medicinal marijuana dispensary on Main Street near Brooklake Road after being confronted with vehement opposition from residents at a council meeting Monday evening.
Nearly 20 residents, including many residents of nearby Niles Avenue, spoke out against an application from a proposed dispensary called First Choice Health and Wellness to establish a medical dispensary in the two-story office building at 340 Main St., next to the Lukoil gas station.
The Madison Council began what’ll be a long road to potentially introducing a marijuana dispensary to the town at the Jan. 24 town meeting.
In order to prescribe cannabis, medical practitioners must be registered to prescribe and follow strict regulations. Dispensaries will have to follow both statewide and local regulations and annual inspections for renewal.