Point Beach Could Move To Keep Marijuana Businesses Out (UPDATE)

POINT PLEASANT BEACH – Point Pleasant Beach may move to keep marijuana businesses out of town – as long as the borough can ensure that delivery services can continue.

"If we can ensure that people in Point Pleasant Beach can order delivery from outside of Point Pleasant Beach and get it safely in their homes, then we will move to not have the actual businesses located here," Mayor Paul Kanitra told Patch on Wednesday.

Kanitra told The Asbury Park Press that he doesn't expect Point Pleasant Beach residents will have to drive very far outside of the borough to obtain it themselves.

"If we were the size of Jackson or Stafford, I genuinely think I'd have a different position. If my residents had to drive an hour to get marijuana, I think I'd be in a much different mindset," Kanitra told The Press. "Other towns are going to fill the need for my residents — and they can still get marijuana delivered to their homes, whether it's someone with glaucoma or someone who just wants to have a good weekend.

Kanitra said the borough is "still working through it" but the town could make a move similar to what Brick is planning to do.

Adults who want to use recreational marijuana in Brick Township will likely have to buy their weed elsewhere since the Township Council introduced a new ordinance this week to ban all cannabis businesses from the town.

The new ordinance introduced Tuesday night would replace the ban the township placed on marijuana businesses of all kinds in March 2019. A second reading and adoption is scheduled for April 27.

Delivery companies from outside Brick Township, however, will be able to deliver cannabis products to adults who purchased them and requested delivery, under the proposed ordinance.

That approach would be similar to what Point Pleasant Beach has planned.

"While we most likely will continue our current landscape, we do want to ensure that people who legally can use it can at least have it delivered to them, even if that means from a business outside of Point Pleasant Beach," Kanitra said.

The actions come in response to the state legislation that accompanied the legalization of adult recreational marijuana use, which was approved by New Jersey voters in the November election. Read more: Marijuana Is Now Officially Legal In New Jersey

In defining the rules for the operation of cannabis businesses, the state gave towns 180 days to enact local ordinances governing those businesses. There are six classes of businesses under the state rules: cultivators, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and delivery services.

Read more: 5 Things You Need To Know About Marijuana Legalization In NJ