Camden County Will Weed Out The Facts At Virtual Meeting – Haddon, NJ Patch

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — The Camden County Municipal Alliance and the Camden County Addiction Awareness Task Force will co-host a workshop on the legalization of the use of recreational marijuana and its impact on the community Thursday night.

“Weeding Out The Facts” will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday night via Zoom. Residents can register to participate here.

The virtual meeting comes as concerns remain concerning certain aspects of the legalization law. Leaders down the shore held an event Saturday to educate the public about the new law, under which police are not allowed to contact the parents of children caught using or in possession of marijuana or alcohol for the first time, CBS2’s Meg Baker reports.

“The wording on the ballot that those parents voted for just said, ‘Are you for legalizing marijuana for adults?’ It didn’t say, ‘Are you going to give up your parental rights?’ Or, ‘Do you want police to be held criminally liable?'” Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra said.

Assembly members Herb Conaway (D-Burlington), Joann Downey (D-Monmouth), Eric Houghtaling (D-Monmouth) and Shanique Speight (D-Essex) announced they are sponsoring legislation to require law enforcement to provide written notification to a parent or guardian of a person under age 18 who commits the first offense of unlawfully buying or possessing alcoholic beverages or cannabis.

The bill was approved in committee and is headed to the full Assembly for review. Similar legislation has been introduced in the State Senate. Gov. Phil Murphy has said he would support such a change. Read more here: Murphy Backs Change To Marijuana Law Allowing Parent Notification

Meanwhile, the state is establishing a regulatory commission that will both regulate New Jersey’s medical cannabis marketplace and provide oversight for the soon-to-be-established adult-use recreational cannabis marketplace.

While the state law supersedes local law, there are some things local officials will have control over. They can limit hours of operation, location, manner and the number of cannabis businesses in their community.

They can both ban retailers and producers outright and ban them from operating in certain areas. They can also choose to ban just one type of business, which means they could choose to not allow dispensaries, but allow a cultivation center to operate within the municipality.

To maintain control over the use of recreational marijuana in their municipality, local governments have 180 days to pass new ordinances. Ordinances that existed before marijuana was legalized will no longer be valid.

Any local government that doesn’t take initial action will have to wait five years before it is permitted to prohibit the future operation of anyone or more classes of cannabis establishment. They can reevaluate and pass new ordinances every five years.