It might be legal to smoke weed in New Jersey but Warren residents may have to look outside of town if they want to buy any marijuana.
The Warren Township Committee will introduce an ordinance to essentially prohibit marijuana dispensaries from coming to the township and prohibiting the sale of marijuana in town on Thursday night.
This will be the first reading of the ordinance and the public will have a chance to comment on it.
Ocean City’s governing body gave final approval Thursday night to an ordinance that prohibits businesses that cultivate, manufacture, test or sell marijuana.
Looking to preserve its family-friendly image, the city will ban the sale of marijuana in the aftermath of New Jersey’s legalization of cannabis in February.
Township Council members approved an ordinance that bans all recreational marijuana businesses from operating within the township. This includes dispensaries, cultivators and testing facilities.
The adoption came after lengthy discussion that included public comment, and after council member Francine Ritter proposed that the council consider pulling the ordinance and reconvening with a public forum.
"Reconsider this one and allow the public to speak," she said.
That won't happen.
The mayor of Wayne says an ordinance on a full ban of the retail sale of marijuana was approved Wednesday night by a vote of 8-1.
In Wayne, a township of over 55,000 -- about 18,000 residents voted to legalize marijuana in the November election. But the Wayne council introduced an ordinance on March 3 to ban the sale.
The unofficial commercial hub of Passaic County will take an official stance on marijuana sales when the Township Council meets on Wednesday.
The Republican-controlled council is expected to adopt a zoning ordinance to ban all six classes of cannabis establishments, including medical dispensaries, from opening in the township.
Officials enacted a similar law in September 2018, but that was before Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation to decriminalize the drug and set up a marketplace in which it can be sold.
Another New Jersey town is trying to ban the booming legal recreational marijuana business.
The city of Orange has introduced a measure to keep cannabis shops out of the town. But a local business owner is rallying support from the community to block the legislation.
Brwnbox co-owner Ty Griffith started a petition in the hopes of getting Ordinance 14-2021 canceled.
“If Orange passes this ordinance, that’s sunk money,” he says.
Months after most of New Jersey overwhelmingly voted to legalize recreational marijuana, the township is snuffing out any plans to have it sold or produced locally.
The Township Committee voted initially on March 18 to ban any such sales through an ordinance that faces a public hearing and final vote on April 22.
The ban is not a surprise given that the state referendum approved in November lost badly in Lakewood, with 69% of voters here opposing it and just 31% casting favorable ballots.
Local officials are considering a temporary ban on marijuana sales within the town's borders, while they draft more permanent regulations for the newly legalized industry.
At Tuesday's town council meeting, officials said they want to have guidelines ready before those applying for state dispensary licenses consider Morristown as a base for business.
Bridgewater Township residents seem divided on the issue of legalized recreational marijuana within the town’s borders, particularly in public places.
The township council, however, is firm in its opposition.
The council introduced four separate ordinances March 18 that would prohibit cannabis operations, marijuana establishments, consumption of cannabis on public property and the use of recreational cannabis in Bridgewater. The public hearing on all four ordinances is scheduled for the council’s next virtual meeting April 5.
The ban would not forbid residents from consuming marijuana purchased elsewhere.
Borough attorney Greg Baxter said by state law the governing body has 180 days from when Gov. Phil Murphy legalized recreational marijuana to pass a prohibition ordinance. If they miss that window, Baxter said, they'd have to wait five years to try it again.