MONMOUTH COUNTY – A resolution has been passed by the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders asking members of New Jersey’s Legislature to allow counties and municipalities to regulate the sale and use of marijuana within their borders.
In the resolution, Freeholders noted that in the November 3 general election, New Jersey voters approved an amendment to the State Constitution legalizing recreational, adult use marijuana. The constitutional amendment will allow the possession and use of marijuana for individuals 21 years of age and older and legalizes the cultivation, processing and sale of retail marijuana.
The Senate and Assembly members must pass the enabling legislation before anything can happen. The legislation must be signed into law by the governor, to set the parameters around the sale, purchase and use of marijuana.
During a recent meeting, freeholders took action as state Senators and Assembly members are considering the passage of enabling legislation that will permit the use of recreational marijuana in New Jersey.
Before the passing of the resolution, Freeholder Director Thomas Arnone made a comment about how it is “mind-boggling” that state officials would put a public question on the Election Day ballot without knowing the details of how they would implement the use of adult marijuana.
The members of the Legislature have yet to decide on an agreement on the enabling legislation since the passage of the public question.
Freeholders continued to address how “local leaders, who know their communities better than most, should be entrusted to make decisions within their own jurisdictions” and that “the legalization of marijuana may lead to unintended consequences that can strain local law enforcement resources and municipal and county budgets.”
Freeholders persisted and urged state legislators “in their consideration of enabling legislation concerning the legalization of marijuana, to preserve the ability of municipal and county officials to regulate recreational marijuana use within their borders.”
