How Manasquan, Monmouth County Voted On NJ's Marijuana Question

MANASQUAN — Monmouth County (and likely Manasquan) voters mostly agree: Marijuana should be legal.

After years of debate, the legislature decided to let voters weigh in on the matter, and on Tuesday, voters across New Jersey voted by a 2-to-1 margin to approve amending the New Jersey Constitution to legalize recreational marijuana use by adults 21 and older.

Unofficial tallies show 1,836,058 New Jersey voters — more than 66 percent — said yes to legalizing recreational marijuana use, with 912,387 voting no, according to the Associated Press. Read more: NJ Legalizes Recreational Marijuana, AP Says

The results in Monmouth County were similar.

The Monmouth County Board of Elections reports 205,182 yes votes cast countywide out of 316,774 responses to the question, or more than 64 percent. There have been 111,592 no votes tallied in Monmouth County, according to those unofficial counts.

How they voted is ironic since nearby Point Pleasant Beach was one of the first towns to ban the retail sales of marijuana after Gov. Phil Murphy was elected in 2017. The legalization could make that ordinance ultimately "null and void."

The Point Pleasant Beach Council approved the prohibition on the sale of marijuana — both recreational and medicinal — in December 2018, less than a year after Murphy was sworn in.

Point Pleasant Beach is one of more than 50 towns that have banned retail sales ahead of the proposed marijuana legalization.

The amendment legalizing recreational marijuana use by adults takes effect on Jan. 1, 2021. But state lawmakers and the Cannabis Regulatory Commission need to hammer out the finer points, such as how much marijuana people could legally possess and whether people will be allowed to grow cannabis at home.

Many experts estimate it would likely take at least a year and possibly longer before the first legal pot in New Jersey would be sold.

The approval of the question does not mean it's legal yet to use marijuana recreationally.
Here's what Attorney General Gurbir Grewal had to say on Wednesday:

"All of the state's criminal laws relating to marijuana continue to apply, until, among other things, the Legislature enacts a law creating that regulatory framework. It is important that residents accurately understand the current situation, so they do not inadvertently engage in criminal conduct relating to marijuana — conduct that may be legal in the future once the Legislature acts, but is not presently legal based on yesterday's vote. While my office will soon issue additional guidance for law enforcement and prosecutors to address this situation, we have reminded them of the broad discretion they already possess in handling low-level marijuana offenses."

Medical marijuana patients remain the only people who can legally smoke cannabis in New Jersey at this time. Read more: NJ Voters Legalize Marijuana; Can You Be Arrested For Smoking?