Bridgewater Looks To Ban Marijuana Sales, Smoking In Public

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater Mayor Matthew Moench and the Council are not happy with Gov. Phil Murphy and the decision to make marijuana legal. As a result, the council is looking to pass several ordinances to ban marijuana sales and smoking in public in the township.

"Earlier this week, Governor Murphy and members of the legislature enacted anti-child, anti-family, and anti-police legislation which goes well beyond the reasonable expectations of those who supported legalization for adult usage. Instead of protecting our children, while allowing adults to make decisions for themselves, this legislation effectively insulates minors from facing any consequences from underage use and removes any meaningful deterrents," said Moench.

Moench is referring to the portion of the new law that does not allow police officers to search any person who is under 18 years of age in connection with marijuana use or smell of it. Read More: Marijuana Is Now Officially Legal In New Jersey

Additionally, the new law states that an underage person's first violation of marijuana use does not need to be provided to parents.

"Worse still, it not only protects underage drug use, but it removes parents and guardians from being part of the early solution to prevent future drug use. It punishes our police officers from taking steps to enforce the law by threatening them with a third-degree crime for investigating potential underage drug use. This places our children, our officers, and our community at risk," said Moench. "In the wake of these dangerous policies from the state, it falls upon us to step up to protect our community."

Moench announced Wednesday several actions he wishes the council to take in regards to the new marijuana laws including:

1. Reinstatement of the D.A.R.E. program or similar anti-drug educational program for our school-age children;
2. Implementation of an Ordinance prohibiting the sale of recreational marijuana in Bridgewater;
3. Implementation of an Ordinance prohibiting the smoking of marijuana in any public place;
4. Allocating additional resources in the 2021 budget for a general public awareness campaign on the dangers of recreational marijuana with a focus on underage usage;
5. Directing our Youth Services and Municipal Alliance Committees work to develop new programming opportunities to expand the services to the public with regard to efforts to combat drug abuse disorder and alcoholism.

"This legislation implemented this week caters to the fringes of those individuals who support adult recreational marijuana usage. If this policy were really about social justice and respecting individual rights, individuals would be able to grow their own marijuana and the penalties for underage use would be equal to that of underage alcohol usage. But it isn't," said Moench. "This week's actions by Governor Murphy were about political expediency at the expense and detriment of our children and communities like ours."

The Township Council had previously passed a resolution in April 2018 opposing the legalization of recreational cannabis, also known as marijuana, in New Jersey. (See related: Bridgewater Opposes Legalization Of Recreational Marijuana)

The council had also previously banned the sale or growth of recreational marijuana in the township in September 2018. However, that ban became null and void once new legislation was passed legalizing marijuana. Read More: Bridgewater Bans Sale, Growth Of Recreational Marijuana

As a result, the township has to now adopt the marijuana ban again. Read More: Bridgewater Marijuana Ban Would Be 'Null And Void' Under NJ Bill

"We will work hard to mitigate the harmful impacts of these policies on our community and will not stop fighting for our Bridgewater families," said Moench.

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