Introduction to S2703

By Gary Beeg Jr

The Brick Township Council introduced Chapter 340, to Prohibit Retail Sale, Cultivation, Manufacturing and Testing of Marijuana Products for Recreational Use with the Township of Brick on Feb. 26.

           The room was heavily divided with both proponents and opponents. Both sides took the podium for a total of 5 minutes once the council granted the public the floor. Proponents argued that it was another intoxicant that their community did not need and there was no way true way to tell if someone was under the influence, as there is with alcohol. Motor vehicle, boating and fire accidents were among the top concerns by the public. One speaker said that marijuana only raised a woman’s risk to be sexually assaulted.

            “Seventy NJ towns have opposed the S2703,” said Stephen Reid, Executive Director of the NJ RAMP Association and mayor of Point Pleasant Beach. “Ocean County is the first county to say no, not in our backyard.”

            Responsible Approach for Marijuana Policy (RAMP) is a statewide group opposing marijuana.

            “The Senate needs twenty-one votes,” Reid said. “They may only have fifteen or sixteen right now.”

            Proponents for the bill cited their own personal experiences with marijuana. They ranged from retired military veterans to reformed drug addicts to a man with Stage 4 cancer. They also cited relatives and friends that medicinal marijuana had helped through physical and mental ailments. Many in support of S2703 called for the outlawing of alcohol and cited it as an intoxicant far worse than marijuana.

Councilman Jim Fozman, who crossed over from a Democrat to a Republican last year, said he himself visited a marijuana dispensary in Las Vegas, Nevada for his own experience.

“They check your ID’s and I looked around,” Fozman said, indicating that he did not purchase anything when questioned by fellow Councilman Arthur Halloran. “When I left, I noticed there was no one hanging around outside the dispensary.”

The next council meeting will be on March 12 and 26, where the issue will be discussed more.