Asbury Park Council Would Support Marijuana Dispensaries Here

ASBURY PARK, NJ - Most City Council members said they would support the establishment of medical and recreational marijuana dispensaries if the state passes a bill to legalize the controlled substance.

"I have no problem with medical or recreational marijuana, as long as it's legally dispensed and taxed" Mayor John B. Moor told the Asbury Park Press. Councilman Jesse Kendle and Councilwomen Eileen Chapman and Amy Quinn said they agree with Moor.

Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton said she supported the use of medical marijuana but had not yet decided if she was in favor of the legalization of recreational consumption of the drug.

"My only concern is how you enforce the rules," Clayton told the Press. "What happens with driving under the influence charges? What happens with all those people who have been arrested? If it’s been decriminalized, would they get out of jail?"

Asbury's support is not consistent with some Ocean County communities - Point Pleasant Beach and Berkeley Township - which both have introduced ordinances that would ban the businesses. Lavallette and Seaside Heights also are mulling bans.

Gov.-elect Phil Murphy, who takes office next week, promised to legalize marijuana as part of his campaign platform and has pledged to sign a legalization bill within his first 100 days.

Murphy has cited social justice concerns as his reasoning for legalization. Studies have shown that black people are significantly more likely to be arrested for marijuana use or possession, despite similar use rates among white people.

This is not the first time Asbury Park officials have taken up the matter. In 2015, they said they would draft a resolution supporting efforts by the community group Help Not Handcuffs which has lobbied to stop law enforcement from arresting people for substance use.

Randy Thompson, founder of Help Not Handcuffs, has said arrests for marijuana impose criminal records on people– deterring them from jobs and housing– for a minor offense. Marijuana enforcement distracts police from more serious crimes, he said, arguing it should be made the lowest law enforcement priority.

"What Asbury wants is to have a safe, regulated environment -- one that will benefit the community," Thompson said in the Press.

A record high 64% of Americans support legalizing marijuana for recreational use, according to an October 2017 Gallup Poll. Support for legalization is rooted in changing perceptions of the drug's potential harm and the likelihood that legalizing the use of the drug would provide a windfall in terms of sales and excise taxes for government.

The support percentage, based on an Oct. 5-11 Gallup poll, follows shifts in the U.S. legal landscape regarding marijuana since Gallup's 2016 measure. While still illegal at the federal level, the issue was included on a number of state ballot initiatives in 2016, and with eight states and the District of Columbia having fully legalized marijuana, more than one in five Americans live in a state where they can legally enjoy use of the drug.

The U.S. Justice Department meanwhile last week rolled back Obama-era guidelines that federal prosecutors should not interfere with state laws allowing people to use pot for medical and recreational uses.

The move was quickly condemned by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.

“Jeff Sessions’ determination to revive the failed war on drugs knows no bounds," Booker said in a release. "History has shown that our deeply broken drug laws disproportionately harm low-income communities and communities of color and cost us billions annually in enforcement, incarceration, and wasted human potential, without making us any safer."

Asbury Park would support medical and recreational marijuana dispensaries here. Image via Shutterstock.