Recently, New Jersey legalized the decriminalization and recreational use of marijuana. During its meeting Monday, March 8, Gloucester Township Council discussed how that law would impact the local community.
Introduced on first reading, council updated its definition of smoking to include e-cigarettes and e-liquid, as well as cannabis and marijuana products, effectively prohibiting people from vaping or smoking marijuana in no-smoking zones, according to the proposed ordinance.
Previously, the township had defined smoking as “the burning or carrying of a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe or any other matter or substance which contains tobacco.” The fine for smoking in a smoke-free area ranges from $25 to a maximum of $50 for the first offense, and anywhere from $50 to $100 in subsequent occasions, according to the Gloucester Township Code Book.
The ordinance will now go before a public hearing at council’s next meeting Monday, March 22.
During the second public comment, resident Sam Sweet asked whether there would be potential dispensaries in Gloucester Township in the near future. To have dispensaries within the township would add to the town’s tax revenues and provide a place to legally obtain marijuana. President Orlando Mercado said that the council had not discussed the idea, though there had been some conversations with the mayor, Ken Lechner, and David Carlamere.
Chief Officer David Harkins elaborated on the subject.
“Right now, there are no dispensaries, so there is no legal marijuana out there,” said Harkins. “Anybody who has marijuana right now has obtained it illegally.”
Though the legislation legalized marijuana for recreational use and decriminalized it, Chief Harkins reminds people that driving under the influence and other drugs are still illegal. The chief also shared concerns over certain aspects of the new law, as the legislation currently states that upon first violation, minors knowingly possessing or consuming marijuana will be given a written warning that does not include the notification of parents or legal guardians.
“There’s been some amendments introduced that will hopefully get some changes made to fix some of the issues that the New Jersey State Police Association has with these laws. We’re still adapting to it,” Chief Harkins said. “We’ve given immediate guidance to our officers to comply with the law.”
The chief encouraged people to read the law, which can be found at www.njleg.state.nj.us/ as bill S3454.
Because this is statewide legislation, there are certain things the council will not have control over. Councilman Dan Hutchinson weighed in, saying that what the council did by including marijuana and cannabis under their smoking definition is perhaps the extent that they can legislate it.
In other news, the council has also confirmed the appointment of James Grandimo as the Township Tax Assessor.
The next town council meeting is scheduled for March 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building. It will also be streamed to their website and on YouTube.
