A medical marijuana dispensary could bring some additional tax revenue into Ocean Township some time in the future. No one has come forward with plans to set up shop just yet – but the business opportunity exists. The township committee approved a zoning ordinance change on Tuesday that permits legal medical marijuana sales in the C-1 general commercial district.
The Township Council this week introduced an ordinance that would allow for dispensaries to operate along the Route 9 corridor, one of the only towns in Ocean County to formally endorse medical marijuana.
"It's not that we have somebody who is interested in opening a dispensary. We're just allowing it to happen," Mayor Ken Baulderstone said in an interview. "We have residents whose doctors have given them prescriptions for medical marijuana, and it makes a lot more sense for them to go to a dispensary near where they live."
Ocean Township officials unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance that could attract a medical cannabis dispensary to town. The proposed zoning law permits legal medical marijuana sales in the C-1 general commercial district.
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission oversees the state’s cannabis industry. Dispensaries must receive authorization from the state in order to offer medical marijuana and supplies to eligible patients.