Point Pleasant Beach

About 65 percent of residents in Point Pleasant Beach supported a November ballot question authorizing legalization in New Jersey. Yet Point Pleasant Beach, a Jersey Shore town known for its wide beaches and lively boardwalk, has decided against permitting cannabis businesses from operating — with the exception of delivery companies, which by law must be allowed.

“They didn’t vote to have it in their backyard,” the borough’s mayor, Paul M. Kanitra, a Republican, said about the referendum.

Towns are opting out of marijuana

Over 100 municipalities in New Jersey have already adopted or are in the process of adopting ordinances that would completely opt out of the legal weed industry.

Some have passed ordinances that will allow marijuana businesses, but only in certain zones and under certain rules.

In Middlesex County, Old Bridge chose to opt out, but may consider a new zoning ordinance to allow sales later, since it’s such a large township.

“The message coming out of Trenton is not very clear,” said Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry. “Obviously, we’re concerned with close to schools, close to houses of worship, close to shopping centers. We don’t want to create, you know, hangouts.”

The much smaller village of Ridgewood in Bergen County is leaning toward a ban.

“Did Ridgewood overwhelmingly vote for legal marijuana?” Baker asked Mayor Susan Knudsen.

Earlier this week, I told you that Brick drew a hard line in the sand against cannabis dispensaries moving into town. According to Patch.com, it looks like the next town to take a stand is Point Pleasant Beach. Keeping the actual dispensaries out of town is under strong consideration as long as they can ensure that delivery services are allowed for people over 21 to be used at their homes.

The revised law for under-21s in possession of cannabis or alcohol would operate on a tier system. The first instance would earn a written warning; for the second, parents or guardians would be alerted and given information on educational programs for drug use; for the third, the underage person would be referred to available community services.

For weeks now, police departments across Ocean and Monmouth Counties have denounced the Marijuana Law in its current state for a number of glaring and obvious reasons including this past Saturday at a press conference in Point Pleasant Beach where several of them including PPB Chief Joseph Michigan, who spoke at the press conference, voiced their concerns with the bill and pushed for change.

Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra believes new law effectively legalizes underage use of marijuana and alcohol

Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra hopes the state commission on marijuana makes serious changes.

“I’m well aware that Governor Murphy has signaled support to scale back this provision, but if that actually occurs, the devil will be in the details, and nothing I have seen so far has led me to believe that any changes to the law will remove this ridiculous criminal liability component our officers now face,” Kanitra said.

That was the message from the Ocean County Police Chiefs Association during a public presentation on the Boardwalk off Arnold Avenue on Saturday afternoon. Elected officials and law enforcement leaders warned it would be the county’s resort communities that are the first to feel the effects of legal weed.

As of August 2019, there were more than 60 local ordinances banning either all marijuana sales and growth, or just recreational forms of the drug.

For many, the issue has been a polarizing one.

In Somerset County, a proposed ordinance in North Plainfield to ban recreational and medical marijuana retail stores and facilities was tabled at a Dec. 2018 meeting, according to the clerk's office.