At the Englishtown meeting, council members said they would support the use and distribution of medical marijuana under controlled circumstances, but were opposed to recreational marijuana.
“In five years, you may need [medical] cannabis,” Councilwoman Lori Cooke said. “But I don’t support the recreational use.”
Amid its potential legalization in New Jersey, the retail sale of recreational marijuana is publicly opposed in Sayreville by the Borough Council.
On Oct. 22, council members voted, 3-0, to pass a resolution prohibiting the retail sale of marijuana for recreational purposes in support of current state statute. Council President Victoria Kilpatrick and council members Pat Lembo and Mary Novak voted in favor of the resolution, council members Dan Buchanan and Ricci Melendez abstained, and Councilman Steven Grillo was absent.
The move, which follows a Sept. 12 advisory from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities on the direction of proposed marijuana legislation in Trenton, was introduced as a proposed ordinance on Sept. 13 and was unanimously ratified by the governing body on Thursday.
Wantage Mayor Bill Gaechter said that with momentum building in the state Legislature to have New Jersey become the ninth state to legalize recreational marijuana, township officials felt it advisable to act now rather than be caught flat-footed after the fact by whatever legislation emerges.
The Ringwood ordinance would prohibit the cultivation, processing, testing and sale of cannabis in the community. Wayne, North Haledon and Clifton have adopted bans, but they provide exemptions for medical marijuana. However, Ringwood is on course to join Hawthorne in Passaic County, by enacting an outright ban.
The burgeoning business of legal cannabis in New Jersey won't be coming to West Caldwell… for now.
The mayor and council of West Caldwell unanimously passed an ordinance that bans the sale and cultivation of recreational marijuana during its Sept. 11 meeting. Mayor Joseph Tempestra Jr. said that the municipal law will not affect medical marijuana, NewJerseyHills.com reported.
Add the townships of Wayne and Bridgewater to the list of municipalities passing preemptive ordinances prohibiting adult-use marijuana businesses from operating within their borders.
The vote was unanimous by the Bridgewater Council to ban the sale or growth of recreational marijuana in the township.
The ordinance would amend the town’s zoning code to prohibit selling, growing, and distributing recreational marijuana. It would not impact medical marijuana, legal in the state since 2010, nor would it impede on recreational marijuana use, should the New Jersey state legislature legalize it. Secaucus currently has one medical marijuana dispensary.
New Jersey policymakers already are loosening restrictions on marijuana for medical use and could make it much easier for adults to buy the drug even without a medical reason. The state's more permissive approach to a drug that's technically still illegal under federal law is proceeding on three tracks.
As June burned to a close, lawmakers in Trenton were still scrambling to pass a budget by the end of the month and avoid a government shutdown. Surprisingly absent from negotiations was one of the main platforms on which Gov. Phil Murphy ran for office: marijuana legalization.
Despite support from top lawmakers, marijuana reform couldn't get done before the June 30 budget deadline. It's now been delayed until at least later this summer.
The land of maple, niceness, and hockey has become the first G7 nation to federally legalize recreational cannabis. But here in the land of the stars and stripes, it’s a little trickier to know where is weed legal. Sure, nine pot-progressive states where recreational weed is legal have set an example for legalization and its benefits. Still, some states where weed is legal only permit weed for medicinal purposes, allowing for small personal amounts or only for CBD oils that are low in THC.